The language of gardens

331 Pages·2014·5.11 MB·English

T L G
HE ANGUAGE OF ARDENS:
IBN AL-„ARABI‟S BARZAKH, THE
C G
OURTYARD ARDENS OF THE
ALHAMBRA AND THE PRODUCTION OF
S S
ACRED PACE

n
Language articulates the contents of the self in a barzwakh, an isthmus–
i.e., the breath–that is neither immaterial like the self, nor material like
o
the external world. We know the barzakh is there because we
T
experience its articulation, not least through enunciation and hearing

e
spoken works. Language is intelligible, because the self is intelligent,
p
and it is sensory, because it is perceived by sensation. Hence it is a
a
world of imagination, a barzakh between awareness and embodiment,
C
self and other. It is an image of the self and of the world outside the self.
It is neither here nor there, neith er this nor that. It clarifies and obscures,
f
reveals and veils.1 o

≈
y
t
Eye, hearing, and all
i
s
sensation
r
e are aiders and helpers
v of reason‘s acquisitions.
i With the eye you will see the absent,
n
U not with my arguments. (III 78.4)2

1 William C. Chittick, The Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn al-„Arabī‟s Cosmology
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), xxxiii.
2 Ibid., 261. (III 78.4). See Note 2, pg. 1.

Thesis Presented by Ursula Badenhorst for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in the Department of Religious Studies
UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
February, 2014
n

w
The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No
o
T
quotation from it or information derived from it is to be

published without full acknowledgeement of the source.
p
The thesis is to be used for private study or non-
a
C
commercial research purposes only.

f
o
Published by the Universit y of Cape Town (UCT) in terms
y
t
of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
i
s
r
e
v
i
n
U
n
w
o
T

e
p
a
C

f
o

y
t
i
s
r
e
v
i
n
U
ii
Acknowledgements

Firstly, my sincere appreciation goes to Prof. David Chidester, for everything
I have learned from him and for his continuous help and support in all stages
of this thesis. He had the wonderful ability to know exactly what to say to
keep me motivated and inspired in order to complete my thesis.
I would like to express my deep gratitude and respect to Sa‘diyya Shaikh,
whose advice and insight was invaluable to me. Not only is her knowledge of
Ibn al-‗Arabi and Sufi Mysticism unquestionable, but I counld always rely on
w
her to focus my wandering mind on the important details of my thesis.
o
T

A special thanks to Adrian Tyler, who withouet hesitation gave permission to
p
use some of his beautiful photos in this paroject.
C

Finally, I would like to thank my husband and my children for always
f
o

believing in me. With their continuous love and encouragement I was able to
y
t
i
continue on this journeys with great confidence and conviction.
r
e
v
i
n
U
i
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to propose a multilayered and interdisciplinary
understanding of space by focussing on the courtyard gardens of the
Alhambra. By presenting a theoretical conversation on the Sufi notion of the
barzakh (an intermediary and relational space) between the premodern
Muslim mystic Ibn al-‗Arabi and contemporary western theorists concerned
with space, movement and aesthetics, such as Louis Marin, Henri Lefebvre,
Tim Ingold and Martin Seel, this thesis offers an original contribution to the
n
w
spatial analysis of religion as embodied in the architecture, gardens, and
o
imagination of the Alhambra. Emphasising the baTrzakh‟s role in the interplay

e
between presence and meaning this thesis also draws attention to the
p
a
dialogue between self as spectator and the garden as spectacle. Through
C
this dialogue, Ibn al-‗Arabi‘s conce pt of the barzakh, which he developed in
f
o
terms of ontology, epistemo logy and hermeneutics, is investigated and
y
t
analysed in order to sidientify a theory of knowledge that relies on the
r
e
synthesis between experience and imagination. The union of meaning and
v
i
presence affonrded by the intermediary quality of the barzakh is further
U
demonstrated in the physical, imaginative and virtual worlds of the courtyard
gardens of the Alhambra. Viewing the Alhambra palaces and gardens in
terms of Ibn al-‗Arabi‘s barzakh, they produce their own language, a
―shwoing‖ of their outer and inner movements, which prompts and provokes
the spectator to participate in a poetical and creative encounter. Seen as a
barzakh, these gardens put space into movement. Using the analogy of
medieval Islamic travel genres such as riḥla and ‗Ajā‟ib, this thesis shows
that we can encounter these gardens through a sensory engagement with
ii
Abstract
their architectural elements. Understood as a barzakh, the visual and haptic
elements of these gardens are amplified and carried over in other media
such as literature and film. The travel narrative ―Gringa Morisca‖ by Sally
Shivnan and the short film Arabesque for Kenneth Anger by Marie Menken
serve as examples of the barzakh‟s liminal and relational qualities. In
essence, ―Gringa Morisca‖ and Arabesque for Kenneth Anger show the
exterior mapping of the Alhambra gardens as a barzakh, and simultaneously,
n
w
also, the mapping of an interior and emotive journey in the self. On the one
o
hand, ―Gringa Morisca‖ and Arabesque for KTenneth Anger exhibit the

e
barzakh in terms of a production of movement, sound and light. On the other
p
a
hand, these two examples reveal the barzakh as a visual language in which
C
embodied practise and imagina tion come together in a sensual and
f
o
perceptual encounter. Emph asizing not only the spatial qualities of the
y
t
barzakh, but also its sseinsory and imaginative characteristics, this thesis
r
e
offers a challenge to the dominating emphasis on meaning and
v
i
hermeneuticanl interpretation. Thus, moving away from the academic
U
hegemony of space as only a medium of representation, this thesis proposes
that space encountered as a barzakh has epistemological value for it allows
a person to live creatively in the world. The barzakh stands in-between the
self and the world, interpretation and aesthetic awareness, therefore,
functioning at once reverentially and poetically. Using the barzakh as a
methodical classifier of space can contribute to the ongoing debate centred
on overcoming the opposition between the poetics and politics of space.
Space identified as a barzakh offers us the means to move away from a
iii
Abstract
subject and object, inner and outer, physical and emotional dichotomy.
Through the lenses of Ibn al-‗Arabi‘s barzakh, this thesis, thus, maps an
epistemological, imaginative and aesthetic journey through the courtyard
gardens of the Alhambra.

n
w
o
T

e
p
a
C

f
o

y
t
i
s
r
e
v
i
n
U
iv
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ------------------------------------------------------------------- i
Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ii
Table of Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- v
List of Figures --------------------------------------------------------------------------- viii
Chapter One: Transcending Boundaries -------------------------------------- 1
n
Current Research --------------------------------------------w--------------------- 11
o
T
Method ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

e
p
Chapter Outline-------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
a
C
Chapter Two: “Betwixt and Betw een:”
f
o

The Barzakh and Heterotopyia ------------------------------------------------------ 27
t
i
s
Introduction ------r------------------------------------------------------------------- 28
e
v
i
The Barznakh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31
U
Heterotopia ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48
The Neutral ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52
Conclusion: Mapping the Barzakh ------------------------------------------- 65
Chapter Three: The Alhambra Gardens of Light and Shadow --------- 71
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 72
Landscape into Meaning -------------------------------------------------------- 82
v
Table of Contents
The Courtyard Garden ---------------------------------------------------------- 86
The Courtyard Garden within a Medieval Islamic Framework -------- 91
Arabic Lexicology of Landscape and Garden ----------------------------- 94
Ibn al-‗Arabi: Market of the Garden ------------------------------------------ 98
The Courtyard Gardens of the Alhambra: A Barzakhian Approach - 106
n
Miradors -------------------------------------------------w--------------------- 110
o
T
Water ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 112

e
p
Light --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 125
a
C
Screens --------------------- ------------------------------------------------- 129
f
o

Conclusion: Gardens oyf the Imagination------------------------------------ 135
t
i
s
Chapter Four: The Arlhambra: A Journey of Discovery ------------------- 142
e
v
i
Introductnion ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 143
U
Travel: A Practise of Exploration --------------------------------------------- 158
On the Garden Path -------------------------------------------------------------- 168
Conclusion: Gardens with Atmosphere ------------------------------------- 185
Chapter Five: The Alhambra: Presence and Absence -------------------- 194
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 195
Presence ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 204
vi
Table of Contents
Aesthetics of Appearing --------------------------------------------------------- 210
The Courtyard Gardens of the Alhambra in Literature ------------------ 215
Sally Shivnan, ―Gringa Morisca‖ ---------------------------------------------- 225
Marie Menken, Arabesque for Kenneth Anger ---------------------------- 238
Water ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 255
n
Rhythm and Texture ---------------------------------w--------------------- 256
o
T
Light and Colour ----------------------------------------------------------- 258

e
p
Depth ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 261
a
C
Arabesques ---------------- ------------------------------------------------- 262
f
o

Conclusion: Gardens oyf Presence ------------------------------------------- 265
t
i
s
Chapter Six: Conclursion: The Barzakh, an Epiphanic Journey -------- 267
e
v
i
Bibliographyn ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 293
U

vii