Lewis’s Orientalist framework reduces Muslims to a monolithic, irrational, enraged mass
Evidence
Lewis characterizes Islam as monolithic (sometimes referring to all Muslims simply as “the Muslim”), backward, irrational, and emotional (that is, full of rage). The West, by contrast, is dynamic, modern, progressive, and rational, with emotions fully under control. Lewis offers a clear Orientalist framework to help modern Americans and Westerners make sense of why “they” hate “us” and to legitimize a feeling of Western superiority and exceptionalism that, in turn, can help reassure the West in its ongoing efforts to maintain its dominance—political, military, and economic—over the Muslim world. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 220
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the Orientalist binary described by Edward Said in ‘Orientalism’ — the homogeneous ‘them’ versus singular rational ‘us’. — connects to: Nineteenth-century Orientalism portrayed Islam as a monolithic, fixed, inferior essence. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 194; Lewis located Muslim hostility in Islam rather than Western conduct — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 217; Lewis attributed Muslim animosity to jealousy over Western dominance — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 218 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Islamophobia operates by reducing Muslims to a monolithic bloc
#corroborates(0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 433 - Orientalism imagined Muslims as a monolithic Arab or Middle Eastern racial bloc.
#corroborates(0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161 - Lewis argued Islam inherently tends toward fundamentalist violence.
#expands(0.60) - Bernard Lewis justified the essentialist category of Islamic terrorism
#expands(0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 398 - Nineteenth-century Orientalism essentialized Muslims as intrinsically inferior during colonial expansion.
#corroborates(0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 201