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Chapter 3 - The Insufficient Image

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2019

Wendy M. K. Shaw
Affiliation:
Freie Universität Berlin
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Summary

Chapter 3 examines discussions about the mimetic possibilities of musical and visual images as reflected in late twelfth-century Persian-language epic poetry, focusing on intertextual and intermedial commentaries on philosophical discourses. Focusing on the narration and a sixteenth-century Mughal painting of a story about Plato as a musician in of the Iskandarnamah (1194) of Nizami of Ganj, the chapter argues that poetry served as a popularizing vehicle for Platonic thought consciously engaged at multiple moments in Islamic intellectual history. Painting augmented this discourse, enabling complex references to other texts including the fabular Kalila and Dimna and The Language of the Birds (1177) by Farid al-Din Attar. Delving into the poetry referenced through visual cues in the painting, the chapter reveals powerful currents of Platonic thought traced through Plotinus, the Brethren of Purity, ibn Sina, and the mystic Suhrawardi into the popular epic work by Attar. The analysis suggests that the mythic Simurgh central to the Language of the Birds incorporates complex Platonic symbolism into Islam, with strong implications about the limits and possibilities of representation. The intimacy of the poetry with Platonic thought suggests that far from inimical, philosophy and Islamic discourses may be indivisible.

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Chapter
Information
What is 'Islamic' Art?
Between Religion and Perception
, pp. 79 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • The Insufficient Image
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.004
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  • The Insufficient Image
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Insufficient Image
  • Wendy M. K. Shaw, Freie Universität Berlin
  • Book: What is 'Islamic' Art?
  • Online publication: 27 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108622967.004
Available formats
×