Fascinating and mysterious, the idea of the harem long captured the imagination of the West. The Muslim practice of concealing the women of the household from the eyes of alien men tempted Europeans to extravagant projections of their own wishes and fears. This intriguing book examines the art that resulted. Drawing on a wide range of evidence from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth century--including travel writing, literature, painting, and even opera--Ruth Bernard Yeazell demonstrates the surprising ...
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Fascinating and mysterious, the idea of the harem long captured the imagination of the West. The Muslim practice of concealing the women of the household from the eyes of alien men tempted Europeans to extravagant projections of their own wishes and fears. This intriguing book examines the art that resulted. Drawing on a wide range of evidence from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth century--including travel writing, literature, painting, and even opera--Ruth Bernard Yeazell demonstrates the surprising variety of expressions inspired by the harem of the Western imagination. The book provides both a rich account of changing perceptions of the harem and a demonstration of the tenacious persistence of myth and stereotype. Yeazell shows that Europe's hunger for facts about the harem combined repeatedly with the impulse to fantasize. Masculine erotic fantasies of the harem were reflected in the paintings of Ingres and Delacroix, the writings of de Sade, Byron, and Loti, and the work of anonymous pornographers. Alternate representations portrayed the harem as a prison or a locus of freedom, a place of murderous rivalry or a home of loving sisterhood, a chamber of erotic license or a nightmarish snare of frustration and ennui. And Montesquieu, Mozart, and Charlotte Bront??? among others explored in their art the opposition of the imaginary pleasures of the harem to the freely chosen union of a loving couple. In a nuanced reading of Ingres's Bain turc and other works, Yeazell concludes that for some the appeal of the harem lay in the fantasy of eluding time and death.
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Add this copy of Harems of the Mind: Passages of Western Art and to cart. $50.19, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2013 by Yale University Press.
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VG+ First edition. A VG+ copy in a very good dust jacket. The book has a s light spine lean and dust spotting to the edges of the page block. Mil d creasing to the first ten pages. It has a 1 1/2" abrasion at the fro nt cover's outer edge. The dust jacket has a 3" tear along its front f old which corresponds with the book's abrasion. Rubbing and dust soili ng to the jacket's rear panel.
Add this copy of Harems of the Mind: Passages of Western Art and to cart. $3.67, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Yale University Press.
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Add this copy of Harems of the Mind: Passages of Western Art and to cart. $6.08, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Yale University Press.
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Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
