Samuel Benjamin: Unorthodox observer of the Middle East
Artist, author, diplomat, Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin's long association with the Middle East provided the raw material for much of his work. A self-confessed freelance' in an age of increasing specialization and professionalism, he had difficulty adjusting to the myriad changes in Ame...
| Published in: | Islam and Christian-Muslim relations |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[1998]
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| In: |
Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Artist, author, diplomat, Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin's long association with the Middle East provided the raw material for much of his work. A self-confessed freelance' in an age of increasing specialization and professionalism, he had difficulty adjusting to the myriad changes in American society. To make matters worse, Benjamin held unfashionable opinions on many subjects. Nowhere were his ideas more contentious than in his writings on the Middle East, where he set out his thoughts on Islam, on the role of missionaries, on the position of minorities, on Oriental' government. His unorthodox observations frequently elicited unfavourable reviews of his work. Yet from a late-twentieth-century perspective, Benjamin stands out among his contemporaries in his breadth of knowledge and understanding of the Middle East. There were, to be sure, some strange and uninformed ideas scattered here and there throughout his works, but what surprises the careful reader today is the durability of many of those views written a century ago. |
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| ISSN: | 0959-6410 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09596419808721136 |