Iberian Moorings Al-Andalus, Sefarad, and the Tropes of Exceptionalism : Al-Andalus, Sefarad, and the Tropes ofExceptionalism

To Christians the Iberian Peninsula was Hispania, to Muslims al-Andalus, and to Jews Sefarad. As much as these were all names given to the same real place, the names also constituted ideas, and like all ideas, they have histories of their own. To some, al-Andalus and Sefarad were the subjects of conventional expressions of attachment to and pride in homeland of the universal sort displayed in other Islamic lands and Jewish communities; but other Muslim and Jewish political, literary, and religious actors variously developed the notion that al-Andalus or Sefarad, its inhabitants, and their culture were exceptional and destined to play a central role in the history of their peoples. In Iberian Moorings Ross Brann traces how al-Andalus and Sefarad were invested with special political, cultural, and historical significance across the Middle Ages. This is the first work to analyze the tropes of Andalusi and Sefardi exceptionalism in comparative perspective. Brann focuses on the social power of these tropes in Andalusi Islamic and Sefardi Jewish cultures from the tenth through the twelfth century and reflects on their enduring influence and its expressions in scholarship, literature, and film down to the present day. This book charts the diachronic dimension of the processes by which Andalusi Muslim and Jewish elites created, asserted, refined, and adapted to new circumstances their respective claims of Andalusi and Sefardi singularity. The historical starting point for this inquiry-the mid-tenth century-is established by the textual evidence that has come down to us. The endpoint of this study's historical parameters is occasioned by social, religious, and political upheaval, collective trauma, and their jarring effects on cultural memory. For the Jews of Sefarad, the mid-twelfth century witnessed disruption within Andalusi Jewish society and transformation of its traditions. It saw the dispersal of most of the Jews of al-Andalus to the Iberian Christian kingdoms, to Provence, and to North Africa, where Andalusi Jewish exiles found refuge and Andalusi Jewish cultural production was relaunched in modified forms. For Andalusi Muslims, the Almohad military defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, known in Arabic historiography as the monumental Battle of al-'Iqāb, and the Almohads' ensuing withdrawal from Andalusi territory signaled the end of the classical age of al-Andalus. Within a generation, Córdoba and Seville fell to Castilian control, leaving the Naṣrid kingdom of Granada-all that was left of al-Andalus-as the sole remaining outpost of an Islamic polity and society on Iberian soil down to 1492.-- Provided by publisher Le site éditeur indique : To Christians the Iberian Peninsula was Hispania, to Muslims al-Andalus, and to Jews Sefarad. As much as these were all names given to the same real place, the names also constituted ideas, and like all ideas, they have histories of their own. To some, al-Andalus and Sefarad were the subjects of conventional expressions of attachment to and pride in homeland of the universal sort displayed in other Islamic lands and Jewish communities; but other Muslim and Jewish political, literary, and religious actors variously developed the notion that al-Andalus or Sefarad, its inhabitants, and their culture were exceptional and destined to play a central role in the history of their peoples. In Iberian Moorings Ross Brann traces how al-Andalus and Sefarad were invested with special political, cultural, and historical significance across the Middle Ages. This is the first work to analyze the tropes of Andalusi and Sefardi exceptionalism in comparative perspective. Brann focuses on the social power of these tropes in Andalusi Islamic and Sefardi Jewish cultures from the tenth through the twelfth century and reflects on their enduring influence and its expressions in scholarship, literature, and film down to the present day To Muslims the Iberian Peninsula was al-Andalus, to Jews it was Sefarad. Iberian Moorings traces how al-Andalus and Sefarad were invested with political, cultural, and historical significance across the Middle Ages and analyzes the tropes of Andalusi and Sefardi exceptionalism that linger in today's scholarship, literature, and film. To Muslims the Iberian Peninsula was al-Andalus, to Jews it was Sefarad. Iberian Moorings traces how al-Andalus and Sefarad were invested with political, cultural, and historical significance across the Middle Ages and analyzes the tropes of Andalusi and Sefardi exceptionalism that linger in today's scholarship, literature, and film.