The medieval monster narrative of Islam was cemented by colonialism and Orientalism

Evidence

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. In photos from Abu Ghraib, testimony from soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and images from GTMO, where the bodies of Muslims continue to be brutalized, we can see just how powerful this discourse is. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 36

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s core claim that the image is manufactured and kept before/despite contact — positive portrayals like Salahuddin are ‘trivial’ exceptions submerged in the grand negative narrative. — connects to: The rescue-of-Muslim-women narrative originated in European colonialism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 306