Sex, Lies, and Exegesis: An islamogauchiste Reading of the Captivity Narrative of Germain de Mouëtte

Abstract: In this article, I argue that the depiction of Muslim sexual depravity binds contemporary French islamophobia towards Arab immigrants to the rhetoric of Christian captivity narratives. Relying primarily on close readings of titillating scenes pairing Christian men with married Arab women in the Relation de la captivité du Sieur Mouëtte , I draw parallels to the use of pleasure as a pretext for Mouëtte's recollections to the contemporary mediatization of Muslim sexual mores. As evidence of this comparison, I highlight how titillation substitutes for analysis in the discourse in and around Leïla Slimani's Sexe et mensonges: La vie sexuelle au Maroc .