Abstract
The place that al-Andalus occupies in contemporary popular and academic discourses is characterized by an ill-defined but heartfelt nostalgia. This essay returns to the historical texts written during and immediately following the Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula in order to elucidate the conceptual place al-Andalus occupied in them. these narratives convey little in the way of nostalgia and frame al-Andalus instead as a place of wonders, jihad and eschatological events. This essay concludes with a brief consideration of when the understanding of al-Andalus as a "lost paradise" emerged and how this understanding may now itself be changing.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 355-374 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Medieval Encounters |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 2-4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2009 |
Keywords
- Al-andalus
- Historiography
- Muslim spain
- Nostalgia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cultural Studies
- Language and Linguistics
- History
- Religious studies
- Linguistics and Language