The Muslim Bonaparte [Paperback]

K. E. Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Series: Princeton Modern Greek Studies | Publication Date: March 8, 1999

This text focuses on the tension between the two experiences of Ali Pasha - the diplomatic and the cultural. It places the history of Greece in the context of European history, as well as that of Ottoman decline, and demonstrates the ways in which contemporary European visions of Greece, particularly those generated by Romanicist philhellenism, contributed to a form of "orientalism" in the south Balkans. Greece, a territory never formally colonized by Western Europe, was subject instead to a surrogate form of colonial control, one in which the country's history and culture, rather than its actual land, was annexed, invaded and colonized.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"K. E. Fleming . . . raises significant questions about the dynamic complexity of cultural representation. [She] invites the critical rethinking of a number of crucial notions such as hegemony, power, and history." -- Liana H. Theodoratou, New York University

"K. E. Fleming shows that the cultural representation of Ali Pasha by the West was not simply nor mainly a way of dominating him. It was also a process by which Ali Pasha was able to limit that domination, and, for a time, even turn it around. An interesting and sound undertaking." -- Traian Stoianovich, Rutgers University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

"K. E. Fleming . . . raises significant questions about the dynamic complexity of cultural representation. [She] invites the critical rethinking of a number of crucial notions such as hegemony, power, and history."--Liana H. Theodoratou, New York University

"K. E. Fleming shows that the cultural representation of Ali Pasha by the West was not simply nor mainly a way of dominating him. It was also a process by which Ali Pasha was able to limit that domination, and, for a time, even turn it around. An interesting and sound undertaking."--Traian Stoianovich, Rutgers University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691001952
• ISBN-13: 978-0691001951
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > History > Europe > Albania

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate historiography, December 29, 1999

By 

Alekos (Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Muslim Bonaparte (Paperback)

My two brief stays in Ioannina whetted my curiosity about the almost legendary figure who governed Epirus with an iron hand in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and I figured it would be great to read all about the cruel Turkish despot who had five hundred women and fifty young boys and who personally murdered his son's mistress in the middle of the lake. But, alas, Ali was not Turkish but Albanian. He was not appointed by the Sultan but just took over the government. He clearly did not regard himself as a vassal of the Sultan but, like his Egyptian counterpart, Mehmet Ali, looked more to the west for recognition and reaffirmation, playing off the French and the British against each other. This is actually a book about historiography rather than history and it deals with questions like how reliable the sources are and what kind of arguments are most productive for understanding the subject, and at times the reader gets the feeling that the author's dissertation advisor is looking over someone's shoulder. As Fleming sees it, the greatest obstacle to real understanding of Ali Pasha is the orientalizing tendency of the the primary sources, mostly British and French travel writings that tried to provide Europeans with a glimpse of what a Turkish despot was like. So, even though I was looking for lurid anecdotes, Fleming's approach to Ali and his times is more intelligent and more enlightening. In fact, this is an excellent book that should be read by anyone interested in the modern history of Greece and the Balkans. We can get our scandalous stories elsewhere.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's Ali?, August 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Muslim Bonaparte (Paperback)

This book is a disappointment. It is more a discourse on the cultural attitudes of western European travellers (a topic already done to death by other academics over the past twenty years) than it is an original study of Ali Pasha. It merely reformulates in academic jargon the same information on Ali that has long been available in more readable form elsewhere. No doubt this reformulation will appeal to some readers, but for many this will be a book to slog through.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ali Pasha, June 22, 2000

By 

cara alderman (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Muslim Bonaparte (Hardcover)

Fleming needs to go back in Epirus and rewrite the book. I thought Ali Pasha was Albanian.