ARTH 340 - Image and Imagination in Islam

FC ARHU CD

4 credits
Does Islam ban figural representation? If so, why do many Islamic artworks depict humans and animals? If not, how do we explain Islamic warnings against image-making? This seminar examines the question of the image in Islam through art history and theology. We study key medieval and modern artworks to see how and why Muslim artists embraced and avoided figural imagery. Readings include Sufi writings, Islamic aesthetics, and Shari’a legal texts. To reconcile differing views on images, we explore the concept of imagination in Islam and see how this concept challenges modern, Western, and Christian understandings of images.

Prerequisites: one 200-level course in ARTH.