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First of all, thank everyone who made such helpful suggestions. The short answer is that the panel went really well. At least I thought so, as did the people from the audience who came up to me afterward. We could easily have gone on for another hour! The panel included Howard Jones, Na'amen Tilahun and Sandra Kasturi. One of the best things about the panel was the distinct voice and thoughtful contributions of each.
I felt, with a moderator's prerogative, that it was important to tackle the panel description and point out how it conflates Arab culture and Islam. Many of the story elements we find in the 1001 Nights are not in fact "Islamic," but are derived from pre-Islamic folk traditions that span not only the Middle East but Northern Africa through India and beyond. More than that, I wanted to point out the issues of "Orientalism" and "othering." I was disturbed that none of the panelists were Muslim, so I invited![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saladinahmed as a "ghost panelist" and read from his essay, "Muslims in My Monitor" (The Escapist, 31 August 2010):
In Orientalism (1978), his landmark study of Western attitudes toward the Arab and Muslim worlds, the late Columbia English professor Edward Said defined "Orientalism" as Western culture's tendency to depict the Middle East through "a series of crude, essentialized caricatures." Some of these caricatures "present [the Islamic world] in such a way as to make that world vulnerable to military aggression." Others are more positive, but still treat the Middle East as an exotic land perpetually stuck in the past.
(In addition, I had secretly obtained a (very gorgeous) cover flat of Saladin's upcoming novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon to wave about.)
We talked about Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and other resources, anddancinghorse joined us as another ghost panelist. Howard Jones, one of the panelists, furnished a great deal of historical background.
At some point, my brain stopped taking notes and I just followed along with the conversation. Once I'd anchored the panel with the points I thought were crucial, I threw it open to "Who does it right?" and "Where do we go for accurate information?" And the discussion was wonderful. I wish we'd had more time, as I often had to choose whether to interrupt a lively panelist conversation or ask the audience to wait just a little longer with their own questions and comments.
We came up with a few titles and authors -- significant that there were only a few -- but I wonder if it would be of value to start compiling such a list.
A couple of comments from the audience troubled me, although not overwhelmingly so. One was the comment that if we don't have Muslim friends, we are somehow not paying attention or are deliberately isolating ourselves. The response was that there are many areas in North America that have few or no Muslims, but the internet allows us to create a wider community. I think that's worth paying attention to.
The second question was why should we worry about getting Arab culture or Islam right when we're making up fantasy worlds. This troubles me more. No matter how "made-up" our stories are, they reflect our own experience and prejudices, and have resonances of the real world. We don't have to represent current cultures but we do need to be aware that any time we depict "people of the desert" or a monotheistic religion that in any way resembles Islam (accurately or based on the worst stereotypes), those resonances will be present in the minds of our readers.
What do you think?
I felt, with a moderator's prerogative, that it was important to tackle the panel description and point out how it conflates Arab culture and Islam. Many of the story elements we find in the 1001 Nights are not in fact "Islamic," but are derived from pre-Islamic folk traditions that span not only the Middle East but Northern Africa through India and beyond. More than that, I wanted to point out the issues of "Orientalism" and "othering." I was disturbed that none of the panelists were Muslim, so I invited
saladinahmed as a "ghost panelist" and read from his essay, "Muslims in My Monitor" (The Escapist, 31 August 2010):In Orientalism (1978), his landmark study of Western attitudes toward the Arab and Muslim worlds, the late Columbia English professor Edward Said defined "Orientalism" as Western culture's tendency to depict the Middle East through "a series of crude, essentialized caricatures." Some of these caricatures "present [the Islamic world] in such a way as to make that world vulnerable to military aggression." Others are more positive, but still treat the Middle East as an exotic land perpetually stuck in the past.
(In addition, I had secretly obtained a (very gorgeous) cover flat of Saladin's upcoming novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon to wave about.)
We talked about Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and other resources, and
dancinghorse joined us as another ghost panelist. Howard Jones, one of the panelists, furnished a great deal of historical background.At some point, my brain stopped taking notes and I just followed along with the conversation. Once I'd anchored the panel with the points I thought were crucial, I threw it open to "Who does it right?" and "Where do we go for accurate information?" And the discussion was wonderful. I wish we'd had more time, as I often had to choose whether to interrupt a lively panelist conversation or ask the audience to wait just a little longer with their own questions and comments.
We came up with a few titles and authors -- significant that there were only a few -- but I wonder if it would be of value to start compiling such a list.
A couple of comments from the audience troubled me, although not overwhelmingly so. One was the comment that if we don't have Muslim friends, we are somehow not paying attention or are deliberately isolating ourselves. The response was that there are many areas in North America that have few or no Muslims, but the internet allows us to create a wider community. I think that's worth paying attention to.
The second question was why should we worry about getting Arab culture or Islam right when we're making up fantasy worlds. This troubles me more. No matter how "made-up" our stories are, they reflect our own experience and prejudices, and have resonances of the real world. We don't have to represent current cultures but we do need to be aware that any time we depict "people of the desert" or a monotheistic religion that in any way resembles Islam (accurately or based on the worst stereotypes), those resonances will be present in the minds of our readers.
What do you think?
