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Women's Orients: English Women and the Middle East, 1718-1918
Women's Orients English Women and the Middle East 17181918 Author:Billie Melman Beginning with the 18th century, the author describes the many ways in which women looked at oriental people and places and developed a discourse which presented a challenge to hegemonic notions on the exotic and "different". Their contact with, and observation of, Middle Eastern people, especially women, created a reassessment of Western domest... more »ic and sexual politics and even a solidarity of gender, which cut across race and religion. The author examines the writings of famous feminist writers, travellers, ethnographers, missionaries, archeologists and Biblical scholars, many of whose writings are studied here for the first time. By introducing gender and class into the ongoing debate on relations between colonial politics and culture, this book challenges traditional interpretations of Orientalism and other forms of cross-cultural representation.« less