Islamic Visual Culture

Among the findings discovered in al-Fudayn (Jordan) there is an ivory plaque curiously moulded in the shape of a dagger blade and incised with sketched drawings of some interest. They consist of an arch with a hanging lamp, a palm tree and a she-camel, namely a set of subjects strictly connected with traditional Medinan imagery. Due to the early date and archaeological provenance of the object, it might be one of the earliest known attempts to canonise an iconography of the City of the Prophet. The context in which the plaque was found and its iconography would suggest an early ʿAbbasid dating for the artefact and the existence of a high-status trade of devotional objects of Ḥijāzī production connecting the Arab homeland with the Bilād al-Shām.

This timely book examines the power and role of the image in modern Middle Eastern societies. The essays explore the role and function of image making to highlight the ways in which images “speak” and what visual languages mean for the construction of Islamic subjectivities, the distribution of power, and the formation of identity and belonging. "Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East" addresses various aspects of the visual in the Islamic world, including the presentation of Islam on television; on the internet and other digital media; in banners, posters, murals, and graffiti; and in the satirical press, cartoons, and children’s books.

IUP website:
http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=806803

Amazon website:
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Culture-Modern-Middle-East/dp/0253008883/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1349193960&sr=8-6&keywords=christiane+gruber""""