On Some “Othering” Terms: the horror vacui, the modern use of Arabesque etc. and the allegation of aesthetics as content - evading, rather than addressing meaning in the use of design in Islamic art Part II

Year 2023, Issue: V, 40 - 74, 30.12.2023

Terrance Michael Patrick Duggan

Abstract

This article is divided into two parts. It
concerns some confusions and
misapprehensions consequent upon the
use of some newly devised and older
European terms that have been applied to
describe the use of designs in Islamic art,
othering terms, that unfortunately if not
always deliberately, mislead. The use of
these terms has resulted in the widespread
misreading of the intent and content of
design on works of Islamic art that carry
what is termed, “decoration,”
“ornament,” “abstract design”. This
article questions the idea that Islamic
designs developed due to iconophobia; or
from an alleged fear of open spaces, a rare
medical condition termed kenophobia, or,
from any supposed fear of leaving empty
spaces on a work, termed by orientalists,
art historians and others from the late 19th
c. onwards in respect to works of Islamic
art, “horror vacui”. A term dismissive of
any content to the designs employed,
indicating these designs were employed
just to fill otherwise empty space and is a
term that continues in use in this context
today, amongst a group of related terms
repeatedly employed, resulting in the
illusion of truth purveyed through their
repeated use in the art historical and
related literature, and the consequent
deliberate(?) denial of content-meaning in
the use of Islamic design

Keywords

Othering discourse, Islamic art, horror vacui, horror infiniti, Aesthetic, Orientalism, Abstract design, Terminology

“Horror vacui”, “arabesk” ve diğerleri: Ötekileştiren Bir Grup Terim üzerinden İslam sanatında anlamı araştırmaktan kaçınmak. İkinci Bölüm

Abstract

İki bölüm olarak tasarlanan bu makale
İslam sanatında kullanılan bir grup
bezeme üslubunu adlandırmak için
kullanılan Batı kökenli terimlerin
yarattığı karmaşa ve yanlış
değerlendirmeleri konu edinmektedir.
Bazıları yakın zamanda önerilmiş bazıları
ise uzun süredir kullanılan bu terimler ne
yazık ki İslam sanatını ötekileştirme
yönünde, bilinçli olmasa da, yanlış
yönlendirmelere yol açmaktadır.
“Bezeme”, “süsleme” ve “soyut
tasarımlar” olarak verilen bu terimler
İslam sanatı bezeme sanatı örneklerinin
niyet ve kapsamına dair yanlış okumalara
neden olmuştur. Makale İslam sanatında
tasarımların temelinde figürlü
süslemeden kaçınan “ikonofobi” ya da
açık alan korkusu olarak tanımlanan
“kenofobi” olduğu önerisini sorgulamayı
amaçlamaktadır. İslam sanatında eser
bezenirken kullanılan ve yüzeyde hiç boş
alan kalmayacak şekilde oluşturulan
tasarım üslubu bu nedenle 19 yüzyıldan
başlayarak sanat tarihçileri tarafından
“horror vacui” boşluk korkusu olarak
tanımlanmıştır. Herhangi bir şekilde bir
bağlamla ilişkilendirilmeyen bu
tanımlama, ki günümüzde de hala
kullanılmaktadır, benzer başka
terminoloji ile birlikte tekrarlanarak İslam
sanatının yaratısal anlamda bir
bağlamı/anlamı olmadığı, şekillerin basit
bir tekrarı ile oluşturulduğu algısını
yaratmakta, sanat tarihi ve tarih alanında
eserleri anlamlandırma çabalarının
(bilinçli ya da bilinçsiz olarak) önünü
kesmektedir

Keywords

Ötekileştirme, İslam sanatı, horror vacui, horror infiniti, Estetik, Oryantalizm, Soyut tasarım, terminoloji

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