Enlightenment Orientalism : Resisting the Rise of the Novel

Srinivas Aravamudan here reveals how Oriental tales, pseudo-ethnographies, sexual fantasies, and political satires took Europe by storm during the eighteenth century. Naming this body of fiction Enlightenment Orientalism, he poses a range of urgent questions that uncovers the interdependence of Oriental tales and domestic fiction, thereby challenging standard scholarly narratives about the rise of the novel. More than mere exoticism, Oriental tales fascinated ordinary readers as well as intellectuals, taking the fancy of philosophers such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Diderot in France, and writers such as Defoe, Swift, and Goldsmith in Britain. Aravamudan shows that Enlightenment Orientalism was a significant movement that criticized irrational European practices even while sympathetically bridging differences among civilizations. A sophisticated reinterpretation of the history of the novel, __Enlightenment Orientalism__ is sure to be welcomed as a landmark work in eighteenth-century studies. Contents 8 List of Figures 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Enlightenment Orientalism 16 Part One: Pseudoethnographies 46 1. Fiction/Translation/Transculturation: Marana, Behn, Galland, Defoe 48 2. Oriental Singularity: Montesquieu, Goldsmith, Hamilton 91 Part Two: Transcultural Allegories 128 3. Discoveries of New Worlds, Talking Animals, and Remote Nations: Fontenelle, Bidpai, Swift, Voltaire 130 4. Libertine Orientalism: Prévost, Crébillon, Diderot 175 5. The Oriental Tale as Transcultural Allegory: Manley, Haywood, Sheridan, Smollett 217 Conclusion: Sindbad and Scheherezade, or Benjamin and Joyce 259 Notes 270 Bibliography 316 Index 344 Enlightenment Orientalism -- Pseudoethnographies -- Fiction/translation/transculturation -- Marana, Behn, Galland, Defoe -- Oriental Singularity -- Montesquieu, Goldsmith, Hamilton -- Transcultural Allegories -- Discoveries Of New Worlds, Talking Animals, And Remote Nations -- Fontenelle, Bidpai, Swift, Voltaire -- Libertine Orientalism -- Prévost, Crébillon, Diderot -- The Oriental Tale As Transcultural Allegory -- Manley, Haywood, Sheridan, Smollett -- Sindbad And Scheherezade, Or Benjamin And Joyce. Srinivas Aravamudan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.