This distinguished anthology presents for the first time in English travel accounts by Arab writers who have visited America between 1668 and 2009. The view of America which emerges from these accounts is at once fascinating and illuminating, but never monolithic. The writers hail from a variety of viewpoints, regions, and backgrounds, so their descriptions of America differently engage and revise Arab pre-conceptions of Americans and the West. The country figures as everything from the unchanging Other, the very antithesis of the Arab self, to the seductive female, to the Other who is both praiseworthy and reprehensible.
About the Authors/ Editors
Kamal Abdel-Malek is a Professor of Arabic Literature at the American University of Dubai.
Mouna El Kahla, a specialist in language pedagogy, is the coordinator of the Arabic program at the Australian University of Wollongong, the Dubai branch.