Beyond Orientalism

The first in-depth study of the collaborative intellectual exchange between the European and the Arabic Republics of Letters.
 
Beyond Orientalism reformulates our understanding of the early modern Mediterranean through the remarkable life and career of Moroccan polymath Ahmad Ibn Qâsim al-Hajarî (ca. 1570-1641). By showing Hajarî’s active engagement with some of the most prominent European Orientalists of his time, Oumelbanine Zhiri makes the case for the existence of an Arabic Republic of Letters that operated in parallel to its European counterpart.
 
A major corrective to the long-held view of Orientalism that accords agency only to Europeans, Beyond Orientalism emphasizes the active role played by Hajarî and other “Orientals” inside and outside of Europe in some of the most significant intellectual movements of the age. Zhiri explores the multiple interactions between these two networks of intellectuals, decentering Europe to reveal how Hajarî worked collaboratively to circulate knowledge among Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Oumelbanine Zhiri is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of California, San Diego. She has published books and articles on Leo Africanus and François Rabelais and on the cultural history of the connection between Europe and North Africa in the early modern period.

Contents

List of Illustrations 
Acknowledgments 

Introduction 

PART ONE
A CONNECTED REPUBLIC OF LETTERS 
1 • Ahmad al-Hajarī: Trajectories of Exile 
2 • Networks of Orientalism: Out of the Shadows 

PART TWO 
AHMAD AL-HAJARI: BECOMING AN ARAB WRITER 
3 • Hajarī: A Morisco Writer in the Arabic Republic of Letters 
4 • Hajarī in the World 

PART THREE 
TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONTACT ZONE  
5 • A Harbor on the Atlantic Coast 
6 • Artillery and Practical Knowledge in North Africa 

Conclusion 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Index