Kidwai, Abdur Raheem

Orientalism in Lord Byron's ' Turkish Tales' the Giaour (1813), the Bride of Abydos (1813), the Corsair (1814) and the Siege of Corinth (1816)

1995 0-7734-8988-6
This carefully-researched study approaches Byron's Turkish Tales from within the field of Oriental perspective, contributing largely to the existing body of knowledge on the tradition of Orientalism in English literature. Byron's intimate grasp of the life of the Orient and his remarkable cross-cultural empathy and insights are pointed out for the first time in this in-depth study of his Oriental sources, diction, similes and characters. Moreover, the comparison of Byron's Orientalism with that of his contemporaries, such as Robert Southey and Thomas Moore, illustrates further why Byron stands out in his treatment of the Orient. The five appendices provide a valuable repository of data and more general information on the subject.