The Representation of Islam in Medieval Western Narratives

Abstract

It was in this spirit of religious hostility that imaginative European narratives cultivated this polemical tradition in constructing a negative image of Islam and Muslims that was relevant to the purpose of their representations. Two outstanding themes emerge from these representations: namely that the Islamic East is the realm of lascivious sensuality and inherent violence. Nevertheless, some authors were able to transcend the limitations of such crude representations to question their culture or to articulate their individual positions or both..