Jour fixe: "Colonialism, the "Counter-Crusade" and the early development of Crusader studies"

The Zukunftskolleg invited everyone to the jour fixe led by James Wilson.

We invited you to our next Jour fixe on Tuesday, 17 January 2023.

James Wilson (Postdoctoral Fellow / History and Sociology) was "Tracing the roots of modern Crusader Orientalism".

Abstract:
Colonial era legacies and epistemological practices remain hugely influential in a number of academic disciplines. Even today, many Crusade historians remain reliant on a series of 19th century French translations of medieval Arabic texts. Yet despite the involvement of their orientalist editors in European colonial projects, no consideration has been given to how these translations – which can be found in the footnotes of most books (and Wikipedia entries) on the Crusades – were compiled. In this light, it is worth checking whether these translations were imbued with the orientalist zeitgeist of the 19th century. Through evaluation of the underlying editorial process (text selections, omissions and the translation of specific terminology), it is possible to assess the extent to which colonial-era attitudes have informed modern engagement with these texts; and our understanding of the historical roots of Christian-Muslim relations more broadly.