Traffic and turning : Islam and English drama : 1579-1624

Bringing together English, Ottoman, and North African sources to outline the discourse on Muslims, "Traffic and Turning" offers an extended discussion of the theater and its place in this discourse, while presenting important methodological and theoretical theses with regard to the analysis of cross-cultural encounters in early modern England. Rather than simply cataloguing instances of Turkish nobility or villainy in the drama of the period, "Traffic and Turning" draws together a range of dramatic texts, both well known and relatively obscure, spanning public as well as private performances, formal theater as well as street entertainment, to demonstrate a complex and compelling pattern of engagement with and representation of Muslims in over sixty dramatic works produced in England between 1579 and 1624. Burton argues that for an English audience increasingly drawn into commercial traffic with Muslims, the issue was how to turn to the Turks without "turning Turk," or being converted to Islam. Jonathan Burton is an Assistant Professor of English Literature at West Virginia University. In The Period Between 1579 And 1624 Over Sixty Dramatic Works Featuring Islamic Themes, Characters, Or Settings Were Produced In England. Muslim Figures Were Prominent In Every Genre Of Dramatic Performance, From Comedy, Romance, And Tragedy To Civic Pageantry And Closet Drama. More Than Just A Survey Of These Plays, Traffic And Turning Argues That The Literature Of Sixteenth- And Seventeenth-century England Cannot Be Read Without Reference To The Epistemological Effect On Europe Of Its Encounters With The Islamic World. Bringing Together Disparate Materials To Outline The Discourse On Muslims, The Book Offers An Extended Discussion Of The Theater And Its Place In This Discourse, While Presenting Important Methodological And Theoretical Theses With Regard To The Analysis Of Cross-cultural Encounters In Early Modern England. It Will Be Of Interest To All Those Interested In Questions Of Early Modern Contact History, English Relations With Islam And The East, English Theater History, And Cultural Politics.--jacket. Anglo-ottoman Traffic And The Image Of The Turk In Tamburlaine -- A Christian [not] Turned Turk -- A Turk Turned Christian -- Traffic In The Streets, Turks In The Closet -- It Dus Me Good, Dat Me Have Coosend De Jewe -- Bondslaves And Pagans Shall Our Statesmen Be. Jonathan Burton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 295-311) And Index. Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction: Before Orientalism, After Orientalism 11 1. Anglo-Ottoman Traffic and the Image of the Turk in Tamburlaine 53 2. A Christian [Not] Turned Turk: Conversion and Desire, Part 1 92 3. A Turk Turned Christian: Conversion and Desire, Part 2 126 4. Traffic in the Streets, Turks in the Closet: Pageant Muslims and Greville’s Mustapha 160 5. “It dus me good, dat me have coosend de Jew”: Christians, Turks, and Jews on the Early Modern Stage 196 6. “Bondslaves and Pagans Shall Our Statesmen Be”: Othello, Leo Africanus, and Muslim Ambassadors to Europe 233 Appendix: Chronological List of Dramatic Works with Muslim Characters, Themes, or Settings 257 Notes 259 Bibliography 295 Index 313 Bringing together English, Ottoman, and North African sources to outline the discourse on Muslims, this book offers an extended discussion of the theater and its place in this discourse, while presenting important methodological and theoretical theses with regard to the analysis of cross-cultural encounters in early modern England.