Islamic Aniconism: Making Sense of a Messy Literature

Abstract

“Postmodern” authors such as Virilio, Baudrillard, Barthes, and Zizek express interesting sensitivities toward images (and their inflation in today’s media) which remind quarrels in 8th century Byzantine Iconoclasm. Historically, Anatolia (Turkey), where Byzantine Empire stood once, has been a fertile ground for religious debates over nature of images. My study starts with thesis that the lawfulness of painting in Islam, as coined by Creswell, is an ignored issue in today's Turkish art classroom. Through philosophical hermeneutic analysis of 30 interviews with 10 middle-school students, study unfolds student meanings regarding various Muslim attitudes toward 2-D figural representation. Philosophical hermeneutics is a form of textual analysis that incorporates dialogue through conversations and elicitation with regard to contexts and history. For example, linking (once-asked) participant question, “Mom, why isn’t there a picture of our prophet?” to greater cultural and historical aspects of TurkishIslamic context is crucial in such hermeneutic approach. I problematize muteness of centralized national art education curriculum on issue and offer instructional strategies that incorporate issue into modern art education practice. The creation of polyphonic spaces for students to explore these conflicting and coinciding ideas is essential unless one considers art education in Turkey a top-down imposition of Western “iconography” alone.