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The Alhambra at the Crossroads of History - by Edhem Eldem
About this item
Highlights
- A growing flow of visitors in the 19th century turned the Alhambra into a touristic destination and a major trope of Orientalism, created by Western authors and artists from François-René de Chateaubriand to Owen Jones and from Washington Irving to Jean-Léon Gérôme.
- Author(s): Edhem Eldem
- 384 Pages
- History, Europe
Description
About the Book
Examining the contemporary press, memoirs, travelogues and photographs - as well as the visitors' book - it uses the Alhambra to build a history of the complex and entangled relations between East and West, North and South, Islam and Christianity, centre and periphery during the heyday of Orientalism and Western hegemony.
Book Synopsis
A growing flow of visitors in the 19th century turned the Alhambra into a touristic destination and a major trope of Orientalism, created by Western authors and artists from François-René de Chateaubriand to Owen Jones and from Washington Irving to Jean-Léon Gérôme. Yet behind this Western infatuation lie scores of 'Oriental' observers of the monument, as revealed by its visitors' book, kept since 1829.
This book uses this untapped source to analyse the perceptions of the Alhambra by multiple actors, including Westerners, Spaniards, Maghrebines, Ottoman Turks, Christian Arabs and Muslim Arabs from the Mashreq. In doing so, it reveals the existence of significant variations in both Western and Oriental perceptions of the monument, from 'Oriental Orientalism' to Arab nationalism. Examining the contemporary press, memoirs, travelogues and photographs - as well as the visitors' book - it uses the Alhambra to build a history of the complex and entangled relations between East and West, North and South, Islam and Christianity, centre and periphery during the heyday of Orientalism and Western hegemony.
Review Quotes
At the crossroads of a meticulous micro-historical study of the visitors' book of the Alhambra and of the grand narrative of the interaction between Arabs, Turks and Westerners in the nineteenth century, Edhem Eldem's innovative take on cultural history offers an eye-opening analysis of this historical and cultural melting pot.
--Henry Laurens, Collège de FranceEdhem Eldem's rich account of the Alhambra possesses a rare virtue, that of bringing together the visions of Western Romantic and post-Romantic travellers with those of visitors from Turkey, the Levant and North Africa. Their conjunction elevates the myth of al-Andalus to its highest expression. Not to be missed.
--José Antonio González Alcantud, University of GranadaUsing original and unexpected sources, Edhem Eldem follows the trail of Arab and Turkish visitors to the Alhambra in the nineteenth century. Describing with great erudition their thoughts and emotions before this icon of Islamic heritage, he offers a stimulating analysis of the many facets and layers of orientalism.
--Anne-Laure Dupont, University of Paris-Sorbonne