This is a presentation on the Article by Md Saifuz Zaman. The article describe about the Edification of the character Saladin in Sir Walter Scott's 'The Talisman'
2. Published in the Journal STUDIES IN
LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE Vol. 1, No. 8,
Published in 2010,
Page 39-46
Website: www.cscanada.net
ISSN 1923-1555 [Print]
ISSN 1923-1563 [Online]
3. Edward Said’s Orientalism-
denotes an artificial dichotomy
between Occident and Orient.
Edward Said- Western scholars
follow the East in terms to
ridicule and conquer militarily,
culturally, intellectually, etc.
Sir Walter Scott- one such
individual with his crusading
tale The Talisman.
Saladin- “first an Oriental,
second a human being and last
again an Oriental” (Said 102)
4. The Talisman & Scott’s another novel The Surgeon’s
Daughter – implementation of disguises in
monarchy.
Scott borrows this features from the usage of
Harun al- Rashid in Tales from 1001 Arabian Nights.
Saladin disguises as Emir Sheerkolf (brave) and
Adonbec el Hakim (learned)
Haider Ali- disguises as holy man.
These subterfuge(tricks)- convey a sense of
exotic(strange), the motive for such methods.
Historical Saladin and Haider Ali did not do
incognito(disguise) to better redress wrongs.
5. Depiction of geography- come under some
criticism.
Scott paints a soulful picture of the desert and
portrays Arab as romantic wasteland.
‘Saracen’- come from ignorance.
The British Army named its armored vehicles as
‘Saladin’, ‘Saracen’ and ‘Sultan’.
Scott doesn’t create a Palestinian wasteland as a
mere setting for his tale.
Themes of Justice, nobility and austerity,
personified in the person of Saladin.
6. Saladin- civilised and cultural gentleman,
learned and equitably disposed to Muslim and
crusader alike.
Theme of Justice and nobility – frequently
banded in the crusading expedition as well.
The lack of unity – pivotal failure of the third
crusade.
Through The Talisman, one cannot relate
explicit or “crusading imperialism” with
crusading.
7. The Talisman – a testament to one individual
and the author’s understanding of that
individual of that individual’s heritage.
Saladin – a man admired by Christian and
Muslim alike for his virtues, who bankrupted
himself by looking after his fellow humans.