Robert Graham Irwin (23 August 194628 June 2024) was a British scholar and novelist. Notable among of his scholarly works is '' For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies'', a critique of

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

's concept of "

Orientalism In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...

Biography

Robert Graham Irwin was born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

on 23 August 1946. He attended

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a benevolent institution which provided a boarding school education for sons of poor or deceased members ...

, read

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and did graduate research at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

(SOAS) under the supervision of

Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British-American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near ...

. His thesis was on the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

reconquest of the

Crusader states The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

, but he failed to complete it. During his studies, he converted to Islam and spent some time in a dervish monastery in Algeria. From 1972 he was a lecturer in

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

at the University of St. Andrews. He gave up academic life in 1977 in order to write fiction, while continuing to lecture part-time at Oxford,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and SOAS. Irwin was a research associate at SOAS, and the Middle East editor of ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. He has published a history of

and was an acknowledged expert on '' The Arabian Nights''. Many of Irwin's novels focus on Arabic themes. This includes his first, the acclaimed

dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...

novel '' The Arabian Nightmare'', which was inspired by

Jan Potocki Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his ...

's ''

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa ''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' (; also known in English as ''The Saragossa Manuscript'') is a frame tale, frame-tale novel written in French language, French at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries by the Poland, Polish author Count Jan Pot ...

''. Later novels would focus on diverse subjects, such as British

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

(''Exquisite Corpse'') and

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...

(''Satan Wants Me''). A character from ''Satan Wants Me'', the Satanist Charlie Felton, has a cameo in the 1969 episode of the '' League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' comic.

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

, the comic's creator, has described Irwin as a "fantastic writer". Irwin died in London on 28 June 2024, at the age of 77.

Orientalism

In 2006, Irwin published ''For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and their Enemies'', his critique of

's ''

'' (1978). Among various points, he maintains that Said focused his attention on the British and French in his critique of

, while it was German scholars who made the original contributions. He notes that Said linked the academic Orientalism in those countries with imperialist designs on the Middle East, yet, by the 19th and the early 20th centuries, it was more proper to regard Russia as an empire having imperialist designs on the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

region and Central Asia. Irwin maintains that the issue of Russia's actual imperialist designs is avoided by Said. Another of Irwin's key points is that oriental scholarship, or "Orientalism", "owes more to Muslim scholarship than most Muslims realise." Maya Jasanoff in the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'' argued: "...Irwin's factual corrections, however salutary, do not so much knock down the theoretical claims of ''Orientalism'' as chip away at single bricks. They also do nothing to discount the fertility of ''Orientalism'' for other academics. The most thought-provoking works it has inspired have not blindly accepted Said's propositions, but have expanded and modified them."

Published works

Fiction

*'' The Arabian Nightmare'' ( Dedalus 1983) *'' The Limits of Vision'' (Dedalus 1986) *''The Mysteries of Algiers'' (Dedalus 1988) *''Exquisite Corpse'' (Dedalus 1995) *''Prayer-Cushions of the Flesh'' (Dedalus 1997) *''Satan Wants Me'' (Dedalus 1999) *''Wonders Will Never Cease'' (Dedalus 2016) *''My Life is like a Fairy Tale'' (Dedalus 2019) *''The Runes Have Been Cast'' (Dedalus 2021) *''Tom's Version'' (Dedalus 2023)

Nonfiction

*''The Middle East in the Middle Ages: the Early Mamluk Sultanate 1250–1382'' ( Croom Helm 1986) *''The

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

: A Companion'' (

Allen Lane Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...

1994) *''Islamic Art'' (Laurence King 1997) *''Night and Horses and the Desert: the Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature'' (Allen Lane 1999) *''The

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

'' (

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2005). *'' For Lust of Knowing: the Orientalists and their Enemies'' (Allen Lane, 2006). (US edition: ''Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents'' ( Overlook Press, 2006) *''Camel'' (

Reaktion Books Reaktion Books is an independent book publisher based in Islington, London, England. It was founded in 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London in 1987. Reaktion originally focused on the fields of art, architecture, and design. In recen ...

2010) *''Mamluks and Crusaders'' ( Ashgate Variorum 2010) *''Visions of the Jinn; Illustrators of the Arabian Nights'' (

The Arcadian Library ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

2010) *'' Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties'' (

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current events, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distribu ...

, 2011) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Robert 1946 births 2024 deaths 20th-century British short story writers 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of SOAS University of London Alumni of the University of Oxford British historians of Islam British orientalists British postmodern writers Converts to Islam English fantasy writers English male novelists English male short story writers English short story writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People educated at Epsom College Translators of One Thousand and One Nights