Mudéjar Architecture and Its Historiography in Spain A
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IDIOSYNCRATIC NARRATIVES: MUDÉJAR ARCHITECTURE AND ITS HISTORIOGRAPHY IN SPAIN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MELTEM ÖZKAN ALTINÖZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE APRIL 2013 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof.Dr. A.Güven Sargın Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ali Uzay Peker Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ömür Bakırer (METU, RES) Prof. Dr. Ali Uzay Peker (METU, AH) Prof. Dr. M. Necati Kutlu (A.U, DTCF) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Z. Kenan Bilici (A.U, DTCF) Assist. Prof. Dr. Aylin Topal (ADM, METU) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Meltem Özkan Altınöz Signature : iii ABSTRACT IDIOSYNCRATIC NARRATIVES: MUDÉJAR ARCHITECTURE AND ITS HISTORIOGRAPHY IN SPAIN Özkan Altınöz, Meltem Ph.D., Department of History of Architecture Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ali Uzay Peker April 2013, 391 pages The Iberian Peninsula has witnessed the emergence of an architectural style called Mudéjar, whose origin and practice is still subject to discussion. It appeared in the 11th century after the Christian Reconquista - reconquest (conquest over Muslims) in the Iberian Peninsula by the Catholic Kingdoms. Yet, as far back as the 8th century Islamic, Christian and Jewish tastes intermingled in the same location to influence what was to become known as the Mudéjar artistic style. The studies that define Mudéjar origins and character were mostly conducted by Spanish scholars. While a group of these scholars explain that Mudéjar origins have Islamic roots, another emphasizes its Christian aspects. However, recent researches have altered former classifications concentrating on geographical facts in addition to cultural varieties. With these enhancements of our knowledge, it is necessary to review the accumulation of earlier works on architectural history on Mudéjar to the 20th century. An evaluation will help us to identify the obscurities associated with Mudéjar and clarify the conceptual and terminological tools in histories related to it. The main focus of the dissertation is to investigate Mudéjar in Spanish architectural historiography. How this particular writing of history interacted with the political agenda and who actively shaped its discourse, are the topics that merit the subdivisions to make them clear. Using versatile methodologies, the study unearths the character of Spanish architectural historiography, which has occasionally confused Mudéjar identity or produced different narratives to account for Mudéjar existence. From the analytical investigation of the publications, a number of graphic illustrations are produced. These graphic illustrations and the analyses of survey books demonstrate that Mudéjar studies have a mainly regional character and were mostly undertaken by Spanish scholars until the 21th century. These works demonstrate a strong Hispanic and Spanishness condition, iv yet they also produced anachronisms in Spanish art and architectural history. Consequently, this thesis reveals the fact that there are a great number of publications that construct or reconstruct Hispanidad, Coexistence (Convivencia), Spanishness, and Iberianness notions, which by and large reveal idiosyncratic narratives with their Mudéjar formulations. Key Words. Iberian Peninsula, Mudéjar, Historiography, Hispanidad, Convivencia v ÖZ KENDİNE ÖZGÜ ANLATILAR: İSPANYA'DA MUDÉJAR (MÜDECCEN) MİMARİSİ VE TARİH YAZIMI Özkan Altınöz, Meltem Doktora, Mimarlık Tarihi Anabilim Dalı Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ali Uzay Peker Nisan 2013, 391 sayfa Kaynağı ve kullanımı günümüzde tartışılmaya devam edilen Müdeccen/Mudéjar üslubu, 11.Yüzyıl itibariyle Katolik krallıklarının İberya Yarımadası’ndaki Müslümanları yarımadadan atmaya yönelik yeniden fetih hareketleri ile başlar. Katolik krallıklar tarafından Müslümanların elinden alınan topraklarda bir müddet farklı inanç geleneklerine sahip toplumlar bir arada yaşarlar. Bir arada bulunmanın neticesi olarak bu topraklarda 8.yy’dan itibaren yeşermiş İslamî, Hıristiyan ve Yahudi sanat gelenekleri Mudéjar mimari üslubunun oluşumuna katkıda bulunur. Mudejar’ın kaynaklarını ve özelliklerini tanımlayan çalışmalar çoğunlukla İspanyol akademisyenler tarafından gerçekleştirilmiştir. Akademisyenler arasında bir grup Mudéjar’ın İslami köklerinden bahsederken, bir diğer grubun ilgili sanatın Hıristiyan özelliklerini vurguladığı görülmektedir. Ancak yakın dönemde yapılan çalışmalar bu erken dönem sınıflandırmalarını değiştirerek coğrafi ve kültürel çeşitlilik konularına eğilmektedir. Mudéjar üzerine yapılan bu yeni çalışmalarla birlikte Mudéjar bilgisi olgunlaşmış ve Mudéjarın ne olup olmadığı sorunsalı yerine, artık 20.yy’a kadar gerçekleştirilen Mudéjar tarih yazımının irdelenmesi kaçınılmaz bir hal almıştır. Söz konusu tarih yazınının incelemesi aynı zamanda Mudéjar kavramının çevresindeki belirsiz atmosferin ve bu atmosferi ortaya çıkartan koşulların tarihsel ve bu bağlamdan beslenen terminolojik alt yapısının deşifresine yardımcı olacaktır. Çalışmanın ana eksenini oluşturması nedeniyle bu tez İspanyol mimarlık tarihi yazımında Mudéjarın yerini sorgulamaktadır. İlgili tarih yazımının politik gündemle olan etkileşimi ve bu etkileşim sahasında yön verici kimlikler incelenmektedir. Çalışma İspanyol mimarlık tarihi yazımının Mudéjarı muğlak bırakan veya zaman zaman yok sayan tavrını çok yönlü metodolojik yaklaşımlarla ortaya çıkartmıştır. Yayınların analitik incelemelerinden elde edilen grafik illüstrasyonlar ve referans kaynaklarının değerlendirilmesi mudejar çalışmalarının bölgesel bir karakter taşımakla birlikte genel olarak 21.yy’a kadar İspanyol vi akademisyenler tarafından sürdürüldüğünü göstermektedir. Bu çalışmalar baskın İspanyalılık (İspanyol) ve Hispanikliğin yeniden inşası durumunu açığa çıkartmakla birlikte aynı zamanda İspanyol sanat ve mimarlık tarihinin anakronik yaklaşımlarını sergilemektedirler. Sonuç olarak, bu tez İspanyol sanat ve mimarlık tarihine yön veren Hispanik, Biraradalık (Convivencia/Coexistence), İspanyalılık ve İberyalılık söylemlerini deşifre etmekte, söz konusu tarih yazımı örneklerinin Mudéjar formülasyonlarını çoğunlukla İspanyol kimliğinin oluşmasında karakteristik (idiyosenkritik) bir anlatının parçaları olarak değerlendirmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler. İberya Yarımadası, Müdeccen, Tarih Yazımı, Hispaniklik, Bir Aradalık vii To My Family viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When the Spanish re-conquest ideology and their colonization process in the American Continent first took my attention, Dr. Erginer was giving a lecture about Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec culture and their collapse by the Spaniards, and I was an Art History student in the undergraduate program at Ankara University in one of the Ethnology classes. I felt a strong pull toward the subject and I decided to learn more about this cultural exchange. No doubt, it would be a broad study requiring serious involvement and scholarly discipline; therefore, I continued my master's studies at Middle East Technical University which contributed a lot to my interest on art and architectural history. Under the advisory of Dr. Peker, whose academic perspective is wide-ranging, I obtained the chance to develop my inquiry. In this process, Aesthetic Research Center of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexicó, in the center of which I spent some time doing research, facilitated my research period. The study was granted a scholarship by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States. During the research period I started to become more aware of the existence of the Islamic architectural taste and decorative elements in Mexicó. It was also for the first time I found out about the Mudéjar terminology in Mexico when I started to wonder its origin in the Iberian Peninsula which had passed through colonialism. After completing the master degree, my interest on Islamic Architecture in Spain led me to actualize my first travel to the Andalusian part of Spain, and this interest would be influential while selecting the study theme as Mudéjar Architecture in Spain. Sometimes, I fell into the traps just like most PhD candidates do during their studies such as moving after different topics. However, fortunately, Dr. Peker reminded me of the PhD route all the time. While studying on my dissertation, I was granted by a scholarship and as an Erasmus doctorate student, and I studied at the Art History department of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Madrid. The five-month study there brought me not only several study and research experiences but also a chance to widen my knowledge about the subject. My third academic visit to Spain aimed at only conducting a research in distinct libraries. This research was much more focused and prolific. My last visit, which included Madrid, Zaragoza and Teruel, aimed at smelling the atmosphere of Mudéjar towns particularly Zaragoza and Teruel. Consequently, these four visits to Spain