Women, Patronage, and Self Representation in Islamic Societies edited by D. Fairchild Ruggles (review)

Abstract

114ARTHURIANA The book begins with a brief essay titled 'The "Arthurian" West,' which is a measured statement on what evidence we have for British society in the Arthurian' period, the fifth and sixth centuries ad. The reader is introduced to the scraps of physical and written evidence for the period, as well as to topics like tyrants and the fall ofRoman Britain, theSaxonAdvent, and the importanceoflong-distance trade and hillforts to the Britons. The next four chapters examine four high status sites— South Cadbury, Tintagel, Glastonbury, and Castle Dore—where excavations over the last fifty years have revealed fascinating glimpses into the historical origins of the Arthurian legends. Each ofthese chapters discusses the archaeological evidence in laymen's terms, accompanied by maps, photos, and site plans. Lastly, a new eight-page bibliography includes recent works and material available on the web. There is, it should be noted, no evidence of extensive revision here. Radford's original interpretation ofTintagel as a 'Celtic' monastic settlement is kept intact, despite scholarly opinion now favoring the theoryofa seasonallyoccupied emporium controlled by a resident king. (The labels 'Dark Age' and 'Celtic Church' are holdovers used uncritically throughout the revised edition.) Similarly, the chapter on Castle Dore remains because Radford interpreted the posthole evidence there as representing an early medieval hall, though subsequent examination ofthe dating evidence has called this into question. Revisions should surely have included discussion of such things as the Arthnou Stone, excavations at Tintagel Parish Churchyard, and the South Cadbury Environs Project. Only the bibliographyshows signs ofsubstantial updating, now including important monographs by Ken Dark, Charles Thomas, and others. For those who want detailed discussion of the excavations at Tintagel and South Cadbury, you are better served by the recent publications of Thomas and Leslie Alcock. But as a general introduction to 'Arthurian' archaeology for lay readers, this revised booklet still makes a serviceable guide, and Swantonand UniversityofExeter Press should be commended for keeping it in print. CHRISTOPHER A. SNYDER Marymount University D. fairchild ruggles, ed., Women, Patronage, and SelfRepresentation in Ishmic Societies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. Pp. xii, 243. isbn: 0— 7914-4470-8 (pbk). $20.95. The essays in this timely collection examine the representations ofwomen from the Safavid dynasty of the sixteenth century, through the centuries of the Ottoman Empire, into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the contributions ofqueens, those of courtesans, and those of modern artists. This volume's editor, D. Fairchild Ruggles, thus seeks to remedy the gap in an area overlooked in most books about life in Islamic countries, that is, the very real contributions ofwomen to the look of their cities by becoming patrons for architectural structures such as mosques, or for charitable structures such as Sufi refuges for women, and for the varieties of styles of giving in Buddhist, Jain, and Mughal cities. This is a wide swath, both in time and class, and the essays carry out their assignments by REVIEWS115 meticulously situating their discussions within the frames they have set themselves. The analyses encompass the production of Sufi hagiographies in pre-Ottoman Anatolia to a critique oforientalist representation in the mixed media installations of HouriaNiati. Such variety is sure to interest readers with little knowledge ofthis subject. It will come as no surprise that the authors have, in each essay, found ways to discuss power and representation through kinship ties, especially that ofmother to son. If she is a queen, a woman might exercise power during her son's minority, on the death of the sultan. This social standing in itself allowed a woman to become a donor for an architectural structure such as a mosque or a Sufi refuge for women. The Introduction, 'Vision and Power,' by the book's editor, is sharply focused on the books themes. To be sure, 'Self-Representation' ofthe title is the main theme and seems more suited to the work ofthe artist Houria Niati. Ruggles explores the question: How have women in Islam represented themselves through a variety of mediaand means?The answeris 'as patrons ofarchitecture, as consumers ofclothing, as participants in the mass print revolution, as artists in their own right' (p.3). To represent oneselfthrough architecture is a...