AUK Associate Professor, Dr. Nassir Authors New Book

Associate Professor of English Language & Literature at AUK Dr. Ghazi Q. Nassir authored a new book titled Samuel Johnson's Attitude Toward Islam: A Study of His Oriental Readings and Writings to be released October 31, 2011 by the Edwin Mellen Press.

The main purpose of the book, Samuel Johnson's Attitude Toward Islam: A Study of His Oriental Readings and Writings, is to demonstrate how Samuel Johnson's Irene, Rasselas and his other short Oriental tales (four in the Rambler and three in the Idler) share, with previous Oriental writings, a common focus on Islam, Arabs, their culture, and political systems. Johnson's assessments of and observations on Islam and Arab cultures in both his writings and conversations clearly prove that he looked at them less objectively. His treatment of the Orient was highly biased. The book seeks to furnish students of Eighteenth Century English Literature, Johnsonian scholars and orientalists with some useful observations on Johnson's Orientalism, as a whole, as well as on particular works in light of what is now known of Samuel Johnson's life, personality, psychological profile, and the intellectual and literary milieu in which he wrote.

The author's main concern is the attitude and the opinions of Johnson, more than the sources that were available to him. By the same token, the use that he made of these sources is a strong indication of his attitude. Generally speaking, when an author like Johnson, who is famous for his fantastic memory, deletes or adds information, this allows readers to see that he purposely knew the information was wrong, and absurd. Moreover, Johnson spoiled the effect of his Orientalism with his strong sense of the Westâs superiority over the East. However, his lack of sympathy with and understanding of Islam and the Muslim culture destroys the integrity of the main characters of both Irene and Rasselas. In fact, Johnson was temperamentally hostile to Islamic culture, particularly to the Prophet Mohammed and Muslims. In general, all Johnsonâs letters, conversations, and writings indicate that his opinions and attitudes about the Orient, its customs, its civilization, and its religion were not flattering. Similarly, his ideas about Mohammed and Islam were dictated by old inherited prejudices. Following the tradition of old polemics, he regarded Mohammed as a false prophet, an enthusiast who manipulated his religion to gratify his sexual desires. His followers were merely dupes or lustful and lazy people.

Released by the PR & Marketing Department on the 19th September 2011