Imperialist Love Story: Desert Romances and the War on Terror
Imperialist Love Story: Desert Romances and the War on Terror
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Abstract
A curious figure stalks the pages of a distinct subset of mass-market romance novels, aptly called “desert romances.” Animalistic yet sensitive, dark and sexy, this desert prince, sheikh, or sultan emanates manliness and raw, sexual power. Though his aggressive, potent virility is common in the realm of romance novels, what makes him curious is his steady rise in popularity in the years since September 11, 2001, years that have seen a concomitant rise in depictions of Arab masculinity as backward, violent, and repulsive. Desert romances offer a unique perspective on the war on terror through their development of an underanalyzed figure: the liberal-enlightened Arab leader who chooses to ally with the U.S. in the war on terror. As fantasy narratives that nevertheless reference commonly held perceptions about the realities of the Middle East, desert romances demonstrate how desire—at the collective, social level—mobilizes and animates contemporary U.S. hegemony. Combining a textual analysis of desert romances, a discursive analysis of popular romance novel blogs and forums, and interviews with popular desert romance authors, the book explores popular investments in the war on terror through an analysis of the collisions between fantasy and reality in desert romances. Arguing that contemporary U.S. imperialism in the war on terror operates by invoking a desire for security, freedom, and liberal multiculturalism, An Imperialist Love Story demonstrates love to be a salient lens through which to understand both how the war on terror works and how it perseveres.
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