Books in the Suspensions: Contemporary Middle Eastern and Islamicate Thought series

In this significant new work in African philosophy, Christopher Wise explores deconstruction''s historical indebtedness to Egypto-African civilization and its relevance in Islamicate Africa today. He does so by comparing deconstructive and African thought on the spoken utterance, nothingness, conjuration, the oath or vow, occult sorcery, blood election, violence, circumcision, totemic inscription practices, animal metamorphosis and sacrifice, the Abrahamic, fratricide, and jihad. Situated against the backdrop of the Ansar Dine''s recent jihad in Northern Mali, Sorcery, Totem and Jihad in African Philosophy examines the root causes of the conflict and offers insight into the Sahel''s ancient, complex, and vibrant civilization. This book also demonstrates the relevance of deconstructive thought in the African setting, especially the writing of the Franco-Algerian philosopher Jacques Derrida.

From the domains of contemporary Middle Eastern literature, this book stages a conversation on questions of cruelty, evil, rage, vengeance, madness, and deception. It forms a record of voices, movements, and thought - experiments drawn from the inner circles of the Middle Eastern region.

The Politics of Writing Islam provides a much-needed critique of existing forms of studying, writing and representing Islam in the West. Through critiquing ethnographic, literary, critical, psychoanalytic and theological discourses, the author reveals the problematic underlying cultural and theoretical presuppositions.

Originally published: London: Continuum, 2013.