Crossing Boundaries, Creating Images: In Search of the Prophet Muhammad in Literary and Visual Traditions

This conference will bring together approximately thirty distinguished international scholars whose work explores the varied ways in which the Prophet Muhammad has been constructed and imagined, both through Euro-American eyes and within Islamic traditions, from the beginnings of Islam until the modern period.

European materials that will be examined include translations of the Qur'an and vitas of the Prophet in Latin and vernacular European languages, pre-modern Jewish literature, illustrated medieval manuscripts containing historical and belletristic texts, printed books, sculptures, and frescoes, as well as Euro-American Orientalist and Romantic paintings. European and American textual and visual sources will be explored in relationship to internal debates over the construction and course of the Christian faith, as well as sustained attempts to delineate its contrastive position vis-à-vis Islam at particularly critical junctures in time. Islamic materials to be studied include descriptive, biographical, and historical texts, illustrated manuscripts from the 13th to the 19th century, Ottoman verbal descriptions ('hilyas'), Persian poetry, the Prophet's relics, and modern representations of the Prophet in lithographic works, posters, and other popular materials. Islamic materials are investigated in an effort to determine how writers and artists working primarily from within Arabic, Persian, and Turkish cultural spheres came together with the largely devotional aim to praise Muhammad through text-and-image production.

The conference is open to the public and free of charge. However, due to the LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF SEATING, we kindly request that you contact either Michelina Di Cesare (dicesare@khi.fi.it) or Alberto Saviello (saviello@khi.fi.it) to confirm attendance.

Further information:

http://www.khi.fi.it/pdf/mpfellow.pdf