Islamic Visual Culture

Key information

Start date
End date
Year of study
Any
Duration
Term 2
Module code
15PARH065
FHEQ Level
7
Credits
15
Department
School of Arts & Department of History of Art and Archaeology

Module overview

This​ ​​module​ ​concerns the socialisation of vision in the premodern urban​ ​Islamic world,​ ​​with particular reference to North Africa.

Attention will be paid to the sociological factors that influence vision and help determine what is visible and invisible for any given region of this world, as well as to architectural elements of the built environment that reinforce and index aspects of this socialized vision. In brief, this module​ concerns the social construction of ​v​ision in the premodern urban Islamic world, with particular reference to the medinas of North Africa.

Although the definition of visuality is not yet fixed in scholarship, so relatively new is it, in th​is module​ ​​we shall follow W.J.T. Mitchell’s usage of the term. Thus, visuality will​ ​​be taken to mean ​ the social construction of the visual field and the visual construction of the social field.​ ​The study of​ ​​Islamic​ ​visuality​​​​ ​​will​ ​therefore​ ​be the​ ​study​ ​of​ the social construction of the visual field and the visual construction of the social field​ as th​is​ ​construction pertains to​ ​the​ ​​Islamic world​​.

Islamic visuality, in all of its spatio-temporal manifestations, is a subject that has received little scholarly attention. In studying premodern​ ​​Islamic​ ​visuality, this​ ​module​ ​therefore remains both exploratory and innovative.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module students will be able to

  • Understand themes, issues, and debates related to the study of visuality in general and Islamic visuality in specific.
  • Identify and compare different approaches to the study of visuality and Islamic art, and assess critically the materials and themes explored in the module.
  • Additionally, having worked through some of the issues involved in trying to define one particular spatio-temporal expression of a non-Western visuality, namely, the visuality of premodern Islamic North Africa, students will be able to act similarly elsewhere, either with regard to another expression of Islamic visuality or in other fields of the arts.

Workload

  • Lectures: 1 hour per week  
  • Seminars: 1 hour per week 

Method of assessment

  • 1,000-word essay (worth 30% of marks)
  • 2,000-word essay (worth 70%)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.