Ahmed Smajlović on the Orientalist Reception of Arabic Literature

Abstract

Part of Ahmed Smajlović's doctoral dissertation published under the title The philosophy of Orientalism and Its Influence on Contemporary Arabic Literature is a critical study of certain Orientalists who worked and acted from the beginning until the middle of the 20^th century. This paper, after introductory lines on changes in the reception of the Orient in the West at the beginning of the 20^th century, brings up questions that Smajlović strives to address in his analysis of Orientalists and their works on Arabic literature. Smajlović focuses on the following Orientalists: Brockelmann, Nallino, Nicholson, Blachère, Gibb, Krachkovsky, von Grunebaum, Palencia and Adams. The paper provides a review of Smajlović's methodology in presenting these Orientalists individually and their key attitudes, and furthermore, it points out the advantages and disadvantages of this methodology.