The Rhetoric of anti-Arabism in Jonathan Raban's Arabia through the looking glass

Abstract

This paper is a critical study of Jonathan Raban's Arabia Through the Looking Glass (1987). The attempt is made to examine the different allegations brought by Raban against the Arabs and Arabia. Raban's concern about the linguistic imperialism of the shops and clinics, displaying notices in Arabic, is not just an impressionistic attitude. He assumes that the Arabs may constitute a real threat to the British nation. The discussion of Raban's rhetoric of Anti-Arabism is based on the three subdivisions of the study. They are: demeriting the Arabic language, the conflict between the two cultures, and racism.