[ebooks] Dance Composition: A practical guide to creative success in dance making (Performance Books) by Jacqueline M. Smith-Autard in Arts-Photography

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A Choice 2015 Outstanding Academic TitleThroughout history; Muslim men have been depicted as monsters. The portrayal of humans as monsters helps a society delineate who belongs and who; or what; is excluded. Even when symbolic; as in post-9/11 zombie films; Muslim monsters still function to define Muslims as non-human entities. These are not depictions of Muslim men as malevolent human characters; but rather as creatures that occupy the imagination -- non-humans that exhibit their wickedness outwardly on the skin. They populate medieval tales; Renaissance paintings; Shakespearean dramas; Gothic horror novels; and Hollywood films. Through an exhaustive survey of medieval; early modern; and contemporary literature; art; and cinema; Muslims in the Western Imagination examines the dehumanizing ways in which Muslim men have been constructed and represented as monsters; and the impact such representations have on perceptions of Muslims today.The study is the first to present a genealogy of these creatures; from the demons and giants of the Middle Ages to the hunchbacks with filed teeth that are featured in the 2007 film 300; arguing that constructions of Muslim monsters constitute a recurring theme; first formulated in medieval Christian thought. Sophia Rose Arjana shows how Muslim monsters are often related to Jewish monsters; and more broadly to Christian anti-Semitism and anxieties surrounding African and other foreign bodies; which involves both religious bigotry and fears surrounding bodily difference. Arjana argues persuasively that these dehumanizing constructions are deeply embedded in Western consciousness; existing today as internalized beliefs and practices that contribute to the culture of violence--both rhetorical and physical--against Muslims.