Byron's disorientatios; The Giaour, for example

Abstract

This article examines the representation of ‘the Orient’ and the dichotomy between ‘East’ and ‘West’ in Byron’s first ‘Turkish Tale’, The Giaour (1813). It argues that Byron’s poem offers a more complex understanding of these relationships than has often been recognised by readings rooted to a greater extent in theoretical constructions of orientalism than in close attention to the narrative of The Giaour, its paratexts, and its engagement with contemporary historical events. Conversely, through a reading of the poem focused on these aspects, the article hopes to make clear that Byron stages not a simplistic dichotomy between ‘East’ and ‘West’, but rather the inevitable instability of borders and cultural identities.