Swedish Orientalists’ Efforts in Transmitting the Arabic-Islamic Heritage to the Swedish Culture: A Descriptive Analytical Study

Abstract

The present research deals with the description of relations between Sweden and the Arabic-Islamic east from ancient times, which began with Viking merchants and their journeys to the Abbasid caliphate, then with the translations of the Holy Quran and the establishment of eastern studies in Swedish universities, and farther the several types of journeys, and the effects of Islamic east on the poets, painters, architects creativity, especially with the friction and the neighboring with the ottoman empire through four centuries until the period of the Arabic modern migration to Scandinavia at the end of the 20th century. However, this research concludes that the Swedish orientalists played a huge role in presenting the Arabic-Islamic thought and the Arabic-Islamic culture to the Swedish society, and because of their efforts, Sweden has become a vital competitor to the great orientalist schools in Germany, France, and England. Moreover, the research proved that Edward Said’s portrayal of orientalism as it all serves colonial goals is not true at all, hence Swedish orientalism becomes a focal point for the coexistence between Swedish and Arabic-Islamic cultures.