Islam and Romanticism: Muslim Currents from Goethe to Emerson

by Jeffrey Einboden

Revealing Islam’s formative influence on literary Romanticism, Islam and Romanticism traces a lively lineage of interreligious exchange, surveying the impact of Muslim sources on the West’s most seminal authors. Spanning continents and centuries, the book surveys Islamic receptions that bridge Romantic periods and personalities, unfolding from Europe to Britain and America, and embracing figures from Goethe to Byron and Emerson. Broad in historical scope, 'Islam and Romanticism' is also specific in personal detail – exposing Islam’s role as a creative catalyst – but also as a spiritual resource, with the Qur’an and Sufi poetry infusing Western literary publications.

Highlighting cultural encounter, rather than political exploitation, the book differs from previous treatments by accenting Western receptions that transcend mere “Orientalism”, finding the genesis of a global literary culture first emerging in the Romantics’ early appeal to Islamic traditions.

Genres: Islam, Romanticism, Religion, Nonfiction, Literature, History

288 pages, Paperback

Published December 9, 2014

About the author

Jeffrey Einboden received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2005 and is currently Associate Professor in the English Department at Northern Illinois University. Most recently, he has authored Nineteenth-Century U.S. Literature in Middle Eastern Languages; and in 2006 his article “The Genesis of Weltliteratur” was named one of the “100 seminal articles” published by Oxford University Press Journals during the past century. He lives in Geneva, New York.

Reviews

[Bnar · Rating 4 out of 5]

خوێندنەوەیەکی جوان و سەرنجڕاکێش بۆ پەیوەندیی نێوان ئیسلام و ئەدەبیاتی ڕۆمانتیزم لە ئەوروپا و ئەمریکا. نووسەر لێکۆڵینەوەیەکی باشی لەم بابەتەدا کردووە و توخمە ئیسلامی و تەسەوفییەکانی ناو کارە ئەدەبییەکانی گۆتە و ئیمرسن و ئەدیبە دیارەکانی تر ئاشکرا دەکات.

[Maryam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read for any reader of the English and American Romantics, it's clear that that aside from the severe reality of orientalism, there's a case to be made that there has always been honest engagements, or at least a more honest curiosity, with regards to the Middle-East and Islam and it's impact on European romanticism and literary craft. This is most certainly a survey, and I have always known about certain Eastern investments from Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe, but I was definitely taken by surprise at the continuous interest in the Quran, itself, and its constant mention as an inedible example of literary veracity and excellence with it's own unique literary conventions which many European writers sought to emulate. Albeit in passing for some, many of these thinkers went out of their way to learn Arabic, Persian and Turkish, meriting the reality that their investments were not always simply leisurely, but rather invoked serious interest (in both, neutral and nefarious ways). Big kudos to Byron, though. At least he went to some of the places he wrote about (Muslim Albania and Turkey). I honestly feel like he'd be romp to talk to. His wit was, and is fantastic.

[Celestial Musings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einboden explores the work of various writers of the Romantic movement in terms of its relation to Islamic influence, touching on figures as disparate as Edgar Allan Poe and Lord Byron, and doing so in an elegant and eminently readable and enjoyable way. His approach is to survey individual Romantic authors and their particular connection to Islam, be it through literature (i.e. Emerson and Goethe's adoration of Hafez) or through more direct contact (such as Byron's visit to the Ottoman provinces), thereby avoiding overambitious generalisations and showing the diverse ways in which Islam was interpreted by the European Romantic movement.

This is a very special book to me, and I wish it was more general reading amongst students of literature and scholars of the Romantics, because it not only highlights the literary idiosyncrasies of its various subjects, but it also casts a light on the currents between Islam and the West which are so often ignored or dismissed as edge-cases and anomalies. I would mention more about the book, but I think people should read it and discover its contents for themselves if they find the subject matter to be of interest.

[Mona]

Chapter 10: “I blush as a good Mussulman”: Byron’s Turkish Tales and Travels
★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

This chapter was mind blowing to me because I never knew Byron was so invested in Islam and the East, to the extent that we don’t know if he accepted the faith? The author seems to think not, referring to his letter with the “confession of being Muslim” is “unmistakably sardonic in tone”. Allahu ‘Alam. I’d like to research more on this.

I’m not giving this chapter five complete stars because the writer’s commentary was superficial, analysing the data at his finger tips at face level.

[Nusrat · Rating 5 out of 5]

So informative and compelling. Only thing left to say is I wish we had more.

[Yanick Punter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not interesting for me. I imagined this to be about views of nature as well as emotion vs rationality. Skipped through this fast!