Cover -- Preface -- Table of contents -- 1. Introduction -- 1. "Only one subject that really matters" -- 2. Basic assumptions for this study -- 3. Societal context -- 4. Literary context -- 4.1. Allochtonous authors -- 4.3. Literary encounters -- 5. This study -- 2. Conceptual Framework and Approach -- 1. Drunk allochtones do not exist -- 2. The literary work -- 3. The author: posture -- 4. Dialogicity and the circulation of social energy -- 3. Kader Abdolah -- 1. Islam and the West contrasted -- 2. Short biography and publication overview -- 3. Kader Abdolah as a cultural mediator -- 3.1. Essentialism -- 3.2. From black author to a son of the Koran -- 4. Gaps and bridges in Abdolah's literary work -- 4.1. Multicultural intertextuality -- 4.2. Mutual exclusion and utopian bookshelves -- 4.2.1. The Islamic in the Netherlands -- 4.2.2. The non-Islamic in Iran -- 4.2.3. Bridging the gap -- 5. Concluding remarks -- 4. Abdelkader Benali -- 1. Beyond Islam and the West -- 2. Short biography and publication overview -- 3. Not to take a stand -- 3.1. Society as an "identity industry" -- 3.2. Literature as a "refuge" -- 4. Withdrawal and trespassing in Benali's work -- 4.1. Border guards -- 4.1.1. Muslim border guards: "say no" -- 4.1.2. Dutch border guards: a "coercion to choose" -- 4.2. Border crossings -- 4.2.1. Masks -- 4.2.2. To America! -- 4.2.3. (Not) to take a stand in The Long Awaited -- 5. Concluding remarks -- 5. Hafid Bouazza -- 1. Islam and the West imagined -- 2. Short biography and publication overview -- 3. A "mutual stranglehold" in literature and society -- 3.1. The migrant author and his "alien gaze" -- 3.2. The dangers of Islam and cultural relativism -- 3.3. A decadent posture -- 4. The imagined Other in Bouazza's literary work -- 4.1. Deformation in style and tropes -- 4.1.1. Orientalism and exotism -- 4.1.2. Grotesques.

4.2. Characters deforming one other -- 4.2.1. Mutual image-ination as a problem -- 4.2.2. Imagination as solution -- 5. Concluding remarks -- 6. Robert Anker -- 1. Islam and the West as Capulets and Montagues -- 2. Short biography and publication overview -- 3. Man of the world -- 3.1. Engagement and the city -- 3.2. The city and migration -- 4. Encounters with Muslims in Anker's literary work -- 4.1. City, village and Islam -- 4.1.1. Village boys and men from the city -- 4.1.2. Embedded othering -- 4.2. Hajar and Daan -- 4.2.1. The public debate in the novel, the novel in the public debate -- 4.2.2. More Gloriant than Romeo and Juliet -- 4.2.3. Narrative perspective -- 5. Concluding remarks -- 7. Conclusion -- 1. "Us and them, my ass" -- 2. Beyond the scope of this study -- 2.1. The authors after 2005 -- 2.2. The continued circulation of social energy -- 3. Clashes and authenticity in the authors' posture -- 4. The clash of civilisations in literature -- 5. The (in)escapable clash of civilisations -- Bibliography -- Internet sites -- Index.