Ruskin’s Islamic Orient and the Formation of a European Ideal

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Abstract

The Ruskinian attitude towards the non-European, and in particular, the Islamic ‘other’, may at first seem definitive. This position being made evident from Ruskin’s descriptions of the lugubrious nature of Islam’s sacred scripture, its peoples, arts and Weltanschauung. This paper argues, contrary to this bien pensant view, that Ruskin’s oeuvre intimates an ongoing, lasting and unfinished discussion with the Islamic Orient, from the earliest drafts of The Stones of Venice to later discourses on morality, history and religion. Whilst the sympathies for the refinement and delicacy of Islamic art and its influences upon the Venetian Gothic are well documented in the literature, Ruskin’s engagement with Islam (both positive and negative) has yet to be fully explored. This paper endeavours to warp and weft the strands of these ideas into a sustained discussion of Ruskin’s ideals in his oeuvre.


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Published Dec. 15, 2020 | Language: en

Keywords Gothic • Orient • Aesthetics • Europe • Ruskin • Islam

Copyright © 2020 Mujadad Zaman. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-487-5/020


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