“THE STRATEGIC ABUSE OF THE TERM ISLAM ANGERS ME”

Interview with Ian Almond

Abstract

In this interview, Ian Almond, professor of postcolonial literature at Georgia State University in Atlanta (USA), talks about his research regarding the representation of Islam in the Western thought. The research includes broader comparative observation of fundamental Islamic texts on the one hand, and the mainstreams of the Western–European thought on Islam on the other. Besides positive comparisons, like the one between Derrida’s term of “deconstruction” and Ibn Arabis teachings on God’s names, Almond also explores a negative side of this relationship swarming with clichés, prejudices and stereotypes. It is a paradox that the mainstream of the oriental thought is being carried on by some post-modern authors as well (Foucault, Baudrillard, Žižek), who, although they are trying to unveil the mechanism of power in their works, write about Islam from a Eurocentric perspective using ‘oriental vocabulary’, which manipulates the term Islam.