L'Imaginaire de la femme enfermee: Le regard des peintres et des ecrivains du XIXe siecle francais sur la femme orientale. (Volumes I and II).
Item
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Title
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L'Imaginaire de la femme enfermee: Le regard des peintres et des ecrivains du XIXe siecle francais sur la femme orientale. (Volumes I and II).
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Identifier
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AAI9417440
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identifier
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9417440
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Creator
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Beaudan, Colette Juilliard.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Bettina Knapp
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Date
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1994
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Language
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French
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Modern | Literature, Romance | Fine Arts
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Abstract
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"They were called Hellenists during the reign of Louis XIVth, now we are called Orientalists", Victor Hugo stated in his preface to Les orientales. And rightly so. In the nineteenth century, the Orient had become a center for the French cultural life. Researchers, writers and painters all contributed to its enrichment, thus fostering a collective imaginary world. As a result, the Orient, and most particularly, the Oriental woman, figured importantly in nineteenth century paintings and writings. Whether or not artists actually journeyed to the Middle East did not hinder the power and energy of their imagination. Each saw the cloistered Oriental woman, but in his own way. Chateaubriand and Lamartine, for instance, ignored her very existence; Gautier and Delacroix depicted her in the nude in their early works, then altered their vision and portrayed her veiled; others, such as Nerval, Loti, Fromentin, in keeping with Islamic tradition, refused to unveil her. Moreau went still further, adding a mystical dimension to his iconizations of what was for him an enthralling entity. Ingres and Gerome, paradoxically, divested her from her veil to better emphasize her solitude--what they considered to be her tragic life. Although the above-mentioned painters and writers knew woman to be unfathomable, by portraying her in their canvases or written works either veiled or unveiled, they were to a great extent revealing their secret yearnings via the power of their imagination.;What factors triggered the need in French writers and painters to depict the cloistered Oriental woman? Is Orientalism to be considered as a monolithic block or, on the contrary, the product of fragmentated aspirations on the part of certain Westerners? Is their view to be considered, as some have stated, a stereotypic self-centered projection of their own inner world? And, moreover, does Orientalism still exist? Such are the main notions L'imaginaire de la femme enfermee attempts to explore within an Islamic context.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.