Representations of Islam in United States Comics, 1880–1922

Description

Representations of Islam in United States Comics, 1880-1922 examines the depiction of Islam, Muslims, and the Islamic world in U.S. popular culture, particularly comics and related artifacts, between 1880 and 1922. Through cartoons, comics, editorial cartoons, serialized advertisements and other materials the book unfolds a narrative about how the Islamic world and its people were understood by the American government and its people. This “knowledge,” garnered from popular culture of the day, produced a lens through which domestic and international relationships were created and maintained. Representing a wide swath of U.S. popular culture and discourse, the reflections these artifacts offer are united in their depiction of the “Oriental” in an era that is largely assumed to have been marked by American un-interest in the region, peoples and religion. An exciting contribution to a growing field, this book resituates the U.S. within the Islamic world, using the everyday medium of comics to provide a fresh perspective on the subject. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Figures Table Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction and Definitions Comics and sequential art at the fin de siècle Comics: Not just brain candy Power to the people A word on Islam in the United States and the United States in Islam Chapter overview Chapter 2: What Muslims? What do the papers say? “Real Turks” Government notions of “real Turks” Other Muslim-Americans? Chapter 3: Our Muhammaden Wards The problem of relics Less angry, more scandalous: American polygamy Chapter 4: Harem Peeping The Shriners and male space The harem and female space The Harem and its cultural significance in American settings Puck’s Harem Girl Chapter 5: Conspiracy at Scimitar Point At the point of a scimitar Vast conspiracies Jihad Chapter 6: Disguise or Acculturation War Puzzles Old Opie Dilldock and cultural curiosity On American soil The camel, the cowboy, and the myth of the frontier The mystique of the frontier: Camel drivers and cowboy poets Is the Muslim woman veiled? Chapter 7: Echoes of the Past, Shadows of the Future Depicting the Prophet Superheroes and women Imperial legacies Empowerment and education Notes Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Bibliography Index