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Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World. By Katharine Scarfe Beckett. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. viii+276 pp. $65.00. In this surprising and wonderfully-written study, Beckett introduces the reader to a world of Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Old English sources filled with unusual perceptions of Muslims, their history, culture, practices, and beliefs. The book is carefully noted, argued in detail, and is written in a readable style accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. The crux of Beckett's book is the reception and use of various terms applying to Muslims, Arabs, and others closely associated with Muslims and Arabs by the literary sources read in Anglo-Saxon England. Among the overlapping terms found in the sources and examined in detail by Beckett are Arabs, Ismaelites, Saracens, and other biblical nomenclatures such as Midianites, Ammonites, and Moabites. As Beckett notes, most of the contact between Muslims and AngloSaxon England came indirectly, through literary engagement rather than first-hand experience. The literary context into which the Muslims were placed was a Christian biblical framework provided primarily by Jerome and later Bible exegetes. Contemporary information about Muslims was introduced into Anglo-Saxon England by travellers and traders, but Beckett shows that much of this also was colored
Comparative Literature Studies – Penn State University Press
Published: Mar 27, 2005
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