Return to search

Incongruous Conceptions| Owen Jones's "Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra" and British Views of Spain

<p> This thesis analyzes <i>Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra</i> (1836-1842) by British Architect Owen Jones in relation to British conceptions of Spain in the nineteenth century. Although modern scholars often view Jones&rsquo;s work as an accurate visual account of the Alhambra, I argue that his work is not only interested in accuracy, but it is also a re-presentation of the fourteen-century monument based on Jones&rsquo;s ideologies and creative faculties. Instead of viewing the Alhambra through a culturally sensitive, historical lens, Jones treated it as an Imaginary Geography, as Edward Said called it, through which he could promote his interests and perspectives. </p><p> Although there were many British views of Spain in nineteenth-century, this thesis will focus on two sets of seemingly contradictory conceptions of Spain that were especially important to Jones&rsquo;s visual and ideological program in <i>Alhambra</i>: Spain&rsquo;s status as both the Catholic and Islamic Other, and its frequent interpretations through both romantic and reform-oriented lenses. Through a closer look at <i>Arabian Antiquities of Spain</i> by James Cavanah Murphy and the illustrations from <i> The Tourist in Spain: Granada</i> by David Roberts, I show the prevalence of these mindsets in nineteenth-century reconstructions of the Alhambra. Then, I compare portions of these works to plates from Jones&rsquo;s <i>Alhambra </i> to illustrate Jones&rsquo;s similar adaptation of these perspectives despite the visual peculiarity of his work as a whole.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10076071
Date02 April 2016
CreatorsJohnson, Andrea M.
PublisherUniversity of South Florida
Source SetsProQuest.com
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typethesis

Page generated in 0.0036 seconds