"In this book one of the world's leading Muslim scholars explores an area which has been almost entirely neglected by scholars in the field - the area of postmodernism and Islam." "Emphasizing the role of the mass media in shaping our understanding of East-West relations, Akbar S. Ahmed analyses the ways in which the media turned events like the Salmon Rushdie affair and the Gulf War into a carnival of spectacle and entertainment. He makes use of the postmodern theme of the displaced, circulating image to show how images are used to tell stories - stories which are not always helpful or accurate." "In this new, revised edition, Akbar S. Ahmed includes a new preface, in which he reconsiders this topic in the light of the contemporary, post-September 11, world."--Jacket.