This book argues that fictive Muslim characters, and in particular male Muslim monsters, have contributed to the Western construction of knowledge about Islam. The belief in monsters has its origins in anxieties about race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. The book examines how Christians, then Europeans, and later Americans have formulated an idea about Muslims that is situated in these concerns. Male Muslim monsters are examined within distinct historical periods—the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, early modernity, the age of colonialism, and post-9/11 America. In addition to introducing the dominant characters in the archive of Muslim monsters, the book also shows how this archive affects Muslim bodies. Drawing on a large variety of cultural materials—theological texts, dramatic works, art, cinema—the book shows that the Muslim monster has been, and continues to be, an important part of the Western imaginaire about Islam.
