An Imperialist Love Story - 9781479820863

An Imperialist Love StoryDesert Romances and the War on Terror\nAuthor(s): Amira Jarmakani\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: New York University Press, United States\nImprint: New York University Press\nISBN-13: 9781479820863, 978-1479820863\nSynopsis\nA curious figure stalks the pages of a distinct subset of mass-market romance novels, aptly called \""desert romances.\"" Animalistic yet sensitive, dark and attractive, the desert prince or sheikh emanates manliness and raw, sexual power. In the years since September 11, 2001, the sheikh character has steadily risen in popularity in romance novels, even while depictions of Arab masculinity as backward and violent in nature have dominated the cultural landscape. \n \n An Imperialist Love Story contributes to the broader conversation about the legacy of orientalist representations of Arabs in Western popular culture. Combining close readings of novels, discursive analysis of blogs and forums, and interviews with authors, Jarmakani explores p.