{Scales}[20th April 1991]

[Redbook9:129][19910420:0953]{Scales}[20th April 1991]

19910420:0953

Although the idea* that an inter-national [sic] conflict might be M~ on a national level but G~ on a regional level is neat, I am not sure that it is theoretically sound. If the root of M~ and G~ ** phenomena in history lies primarily in the concentrated or diffused behaviour of individuals, one would not expect the expression of that behaviour to appear differently on different scales, nor would one expect the different degrees (M~ and G~) to be expressed in the same individual behaviour, on international and regional levels respectively, as invasion and civil war.***

*ref [] above

(& eg Vol[ume] VIII [])

**(Haven’t quite woken up yet – Saturday a.m.)

[– to explain various crossings-out and insertions, presumably]

***But what of the type of regional international war? – eg in 18^th century Europe, the difference between a war of conquest and a quarrel over border territories, influence, or trade. <910421>

{See [[Redbook9:174][19910421:1410#]{The Late Period [of Islam]}[21st April 1991],] 174}

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Development of Styles}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:128][19910415:0840ee]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] Development of Styles}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘A second point of definition concerns the question of whether there was an early Islamic style or [whether there were] perhaps even several styles in some sort of succession. The fascinating fact is that there is a clear succession only in those artistic features that are Islamic inventions – non-figurative ornaments and ceramics. For it is only in development of these features that one can assume to* find **|the conscious search for form that can create a period style.|** Elsewhere, especially in palace art, the Muslim world sought to relate itself to an earlier and more universal tradition of princely art; its monuments, therefore, are less Islamic than typological. In the new art of the Muslim bourgeoisie, however, uniquely Islamic artistic phenomena began to evolve.’

***

*(sic)

**|NB|**

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 84

[Continued in ts journal entry after next]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (1)}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:126-127][19910415:0840dd]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Dome of the Rock (1)}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘… The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem... is a unique building. Completed in 691[ce], this masterwork of Islamic architecture is the earliest major Islamic monument. Its octagonal plan, use of a high dome, and building techniques are hardly original, although its decoration is unique. Its purpose, however, is what is most remarkable about about the building. Since the middle of the 8^th century,* the Dome of the Rock has become the focal centre of the most mystical event in the life of the Prophet: ** his ascension into heaven from the rock around which the building was erected. According to an inscription preserved since the erection of the dome, however, it would seem that the building did not originally commemorate the prophet’s ascension but rather the Christology*** of Islam and its relation to Judaism. It seems preferable, therefore, to interpret the Dome of the Rock as a victory monument of the new faith’s ideological and religious claim on a holy city and on all the religious traditions attached to it.’

****

#

#*

#**

*{2048U~768[ce]}

**{? – cf [[Redbook9:148-150][19910420:0953nn]{~The Dome of the Rock (2)}[20th April 1991],] 149}

***{See [[[Redbook9:148-150][19910420:0953nn]{~The Dome of the Rock (2)}[20th April 1991],]] 149}

****– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 79

#– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:79]

#*{See description [[[Redbook9:148-150][19910420:0953nn]{~The Dome of the Rock (2)}[20th April 1991],]] 148}

#**{cf [[[Redbook9:356-][19910511:1817#]{The Poussin Circle}[15th April 1991],]] 359}

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Mosque}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:126][19910415:0840cc]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts [continued –] The Mosque}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘There is no prohibition against representation of living things, and not a single Quranic passage refers clearly to the Mosque,* eventually to become the most characteristically Muslim religious building. In the simple, practical, and puritanical milieu of early Islam, aesthetic or visual questions simply did not arise.’

**

*{cf churches not mentioned in the Gospels?}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 75

[continued]

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{Visual Arts [continued –] Art Cycles (1) [continued]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:126][19910415:0840bb]{Visual Arts [continued –] Art Cycles (1) [continued]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

In theory, the development of a visual art forbidden that representation of living creatures* – and particularly Man – without which Christian art is inconceivable, may clarify [sic] the changes of the basic artistic impulse through the cycle.

*[See last previous ts journal entry]

[continued]

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{Visual Arts [continued –] Art Cycles (1)}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:124-125][19910415:0840aa]{Visual Arts [continued –] Art Cycles (1)}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

When I interrupted my rapid journey through the Visual Arts of Europe, just before the Renaissance,* to make a detour into Islam,** it was with the idea that the influence of Islam must be allowed for in the history of Europe. But it is beginning to seem as though that influence is less than I expected. On the other hand, Islamic and Christian cultures are definitely interlinked and interwoven; and comparison of the two may well illuminate the natural sequence of patterns, particularly in the arts, which may or may not be describable in terms of C[ircles] A[nalysis &] S[ynthesis].

For example, an art without living things may initially be compared with the early, geometrical stages of the art cycles of antiquity,*** which may turn out to characterise the first quarter of the rotation of a long cultural cycle (and to be prefigured by the abstract art which ends the previous cycle). In the second quarter of an outer circle one might expect formularised representation, relaxing in the third quarter into a naturalism (and technical mastery) which reaches its peak at around G~ff. Not long after, the breakdown of the cycle may begin to manifest itself in various ways: baroque fantasy, romanticism, ‘dead’ realism (mastery of form without spirit), experiment, and abstract art. I am not sure what the order of this (incomplete) list ought in theory to be.

*[See [Redbook8:350][19910315:1000tt][Gothic Art (3) [continued (22):]] European art in the 15^th century [ce] [continued (9)][15th March 1991]]

**[See [Redbook8:351][19910316:1612]{Arabian Islam}[16th March 1991]]

***[See above, []]

****{See [[Redbook9:133][19910420#]{Art Cycles (2)}[20th April 1991],] 133;

[[Redbook9:9][19910326:2315b]{Fascism and Art [(1)]}[26th March 1991],] 9,

[[Redbook9:19][19910331:1706b]{Fascism and Art (2)}[31st March 1991],] 19}

{& VIII.[[Redbook8:278][19910221:1142g]{Byzantine Art [continued (3)]}[21st February 1991],] 278 re? ‘idealised’art at M~-U~}

[& NB [Redbook8:277-283][19910221:1142f]{Byzantine Art: Iconoclasm}[21st February 1991]]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:124][19910415:0840z]{[Islamic Art –] Visual Arts}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘… Even if there are ambiguous examples, most observers can recognize a flavour, a mood in Islamic visual arts that is distinguishable from what is known in East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan) or in the Christian West. This mood or flavour has been called decorative,* for it seems at first glance to emphasise an immense complexity of surface effects without apparent meanings attached to the visible motifs. But it has other characteristics as well; it is often colourful, both in architecture and in objects; it avoids representations of living things;** it gives much prominence to the work of artisans*** and counts among its masterpieces not merely works of architecture or of painting but also the creations of weavers, potters and metal workers.**** The problem is whether these uniquenesses of Islamic art, when compared to other artistic traditions, are the result of the nature of Islam or of some other factor of series of factors.’

#

*{cf G~R~?}

**{?}

***{U}

****{U~}

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 74

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (5)]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:123][19910415:0840y]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (5)]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

*‘Among the Shiites the passion play was regularly performed, by both professional and amateur actors. The performances always took place during the first 10 days of the month of Muharram (the first in the Muslim year), the period when the suffering and death of the descendants and relatives of the fourth Caliph Ali were commemorated. For generations this largely theatrical event served as a focal point of the year, gripping audiences in total involvement with its blend of symbolism and realism.’

**

*(ref [[Redbook9:121-122][19910415:0840v]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (3)]}[15th April 1991],] 121-2↑)

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22: 70]

(& see ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 72 for details, eg people march through the streets, wounding themselves, before the plays).

{cf G~-R~ (eg T[arot]XII + T[arot]XIII)}

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (5)]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:123][19910415:0840x]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (5)]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘… the month of fasting, Ramadan (the sacred ninth month of the Muslim year).’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22: 70]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (4)]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:122-123][19910415:0840w]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (4)]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘There is one outstading example of pure dance: that of the whirling dervishes, an art that has been practised for more than seven centuries. The procedure is part of a Muslim ceremony called the dhikr,* the purpose of which is to glorify God and seek spiritual perfection. Not all dervish orders dance; some simply stand on one foot and move the other foot to music. Those who dance, or rather, whirl, are the Mawlawi dervishes, an order that was founded by the Persian poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi** at Konya, in Anatolia, in the 13^th century.***

‘The performance, for which all of the performers don tall, brown, conical hats and black mantles, takes place in a large hall in the tekke, the building in which the dervishes live. The dervishes sit in a circle listening to music. Then, rising slowly, they move to greet the shaykh, or master, and cast off the black coat [sic] to emerge in white shirts and waistcoats. They keep their individual places with respect to one another and begin to revolve rhythmically. They throw back their heads and raise the palms of their right hands, keeping their left hands down, a symbol of giving and taking. The rhythm accelerates, and they whirl faster and faster. In this way they enter a trance in an attempt to lose their personal identities and to attain union with the Almighty. Later they may sit, pray, and begin all over again. The dhikr ceremony always ends with a prayer and a procession.’

****

I have seen this – at the Commonwealth Institute, in London, in 1982, in company (more-or-less) with a Naqshbandi shaykh.#

*{(Remembering?)}

[Yes]

**[See [Redbook9:109-110][19910414:1104w]{[Islamic Art –] The Word (2) [continued (14)][Rumi]}[14th April 1991]]

***~2048J~1280

****– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 70

#[See eg [Redbook2:282][19830522:1130b]{The Sufi}[22nd May 1983]&f]

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (3)]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:121-122][19910415:0840v]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (3)]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘...Drama has had some ties with religion, as in Iran and other areas where the Shiite branch of Islam is concentrated. Here a passion play developed, rooted in traumatic memories of Islam’s earlier years. This was a local phenomenon, uninfluenced by Christian Europe, and, though stereotyped, it movingly re[-]enacted Shiite martyrdom.’*

**

*{cf [[Redbook9:123][19910415:0840x]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued (5)]}[15th April 1991],] 123}

** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 69

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:121][19910415:0840u]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre [continued]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘… There has been an active tradition of folk dance in most Islamic countries, in addition to dancing as an entertainment spectacle and, particularly in Persia,* as an art form. A ritual dance was instituted in the Sufi Mawlawiyah (Mevleviyah) in Turkey. The dance, performed by dervishes (members of the mystical order), is considered to be a manifestation of mystical ecstasy rather than an entertainment or an expression of aesthetic urges.’

**

*NB again

[ref eg [Redbook9:118-119][19910415:0840m]{[Islamic Art –] Music [continued (3)]}[15th April 1991],

[Redbook9:120][19910415:0840r]{[Islamic Art –] Music [continued (8)]}[15th April 1991], &al]

** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 68-69

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:121-123][19910415:0840t]{[Islamic Art –] Dance and Theatre}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘(Dance and Theatre)

‘The performing arts have received comparatively little attention in the otherwise rich literature of the Islamic peoples. This is most probably the result of the suspicions entertained by some orthodox Muslim scholars concerning the propriety of the dance and the theatre. Because this applies particularly in relation to the vexing theological question of human portrayal and its connection with idolatry, the performing arts have traditionally been regarded by the faithful with more than usual caution.’

*

* – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 68

[continued]

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{[Islamic Art –] Music [continued (9)]}[15th April 1991]

[Redbook9:121][19910415:0840s]{[Islamic Art –] Music [continued (9)]}[15th April 1991]

19910415.0840

[continued]

‘From the beginning of the 19^th century, Islamic music was affected by the intensification of contacts and relationships with Western music.’

*

* – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:] 68

[continued]

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