Positive Muslim images are trivial against the dominant Western narrative of Islam

Evidence

There are a number of ways in which one might voice objections to the argument that fantasies of Muslim monsters constitute the current imaginaire about Islam. One objection is the presence of non-monstrous Muslim characters, including the existence of a few positive Muslim representations of Muslim historical figures in European history, such as Salahuddin. The positive and even romantic treatments of Muslims are, however, trivial when considered alongside the grand narrative about Islam, an overwhelmingly negative and dehumanizing treatment that has its origins in the Middle Ages, sees its development in pre-modernity, and is cemented into the Western consciousness through colonialism and Orientalism. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 36

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Said’s Orientalism and the idea that pockets of positive representation don’t overturn the deep structure of the discourse. — connects to: A fixed polemical image of Islam served Western needs better than firsthand observation did.
• ADDENDUM: Directly relevant to my thesis on manufactured Muslim monster imagery in the Western imagination — the exceptional positive figure (Salahuddin) proves the rule of the dehumanizing grand narrative.