The Nineteenth Century Western Travellers\u27 Conception of the Arīm: Restoring the Cultural Complexity of the Ijāb in Architecture

Abstract

This paper examines 19th century Western travellers\u27 understanding of the ḥarīm. Focusing in particular on visual depictions, it investigates the misconception and misrepresentation of the ḥarīm in Orientalists\u27 paintings and Western culture, using thework of the artist John Frederick Lewis as a main case study. Arguing that such representations oversimplify and fantasise sacred Islamic cultural experience, this paper, as a counterpoint, restores a detailed understanding of the ḥarīm and defines its wider Islamic implication within Arabic culture. Applying etymology and Islamic scripture to the study of architectural design, this study explores the centrality of the concept of ḥijāb (veil) to the organisation of physical space for women in the Islamic home. Written from the perspective of an Arabic Muslim woman, this study seeks to explore the concept of the ḥarīm from the “Others” perspective