Description
Book SynopsisIn early modern Iberia, Moorish clothing was not merely a cultural remnant from the Islamic period, but an artefact that conditioned discourses of nobility and social preeminence.
In Moors Dressed as Moors, Javier Irigoyen-García draws on a wide range of sources: archival, legal, literary, and visual documents, as well as tailoring books, equestrian treatises, and festival books to reveal the currency of Moorish clothing in early modern Iberian society. Irigoyen-García’s insightful and nuanced analyses of Moorish clothing production and circulation shows that as well as being a sign of status and a marker of nobility, it also served to codify social tensions by deploying apparent Islamophobic discourses. Such luxurious value of clothing also sheds light on how sartorial legislation against the Moriscos was not only a form of cultural repression, but also a way to preclude their full integration into Iberian society. Moors Dressed as Moors challenges the
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"Irigoyen-Garcia’s study amplifies with scholarly rigor our understanding of early modern Iberian cultural politics in ways that resonate with our own cultural locations as scholars at a time of heightened ethnic and national tensions." -- Israel Burshatin, Haverford College * Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies, Vol 43 no 1 *
"This is an interesting and useful book for readers who are interested in the understanding of clothes beyond aesthetics." -- Laura Pérez Hernández * The Journal of Dress History, vol 2 3, Autumn 2018 *
"Irigoyen’Garcia’s book is a much-needed corrective to existing studies on early modern Spanish dress, which tend to undermine the diversity of Morisco cultures and their sartorial practices, which, in many cases, were not that distinguishable from others in their local context. This is a must read for any scholar interested in better appreciating the complex relationship between dress, social status, and ethnicity in early modern Iberian. I will certainly assign it in future graduate courses on early modern cultures, as it contributes not only to discussions on clothing, but also to the construction of Iberian identities more broadly speaking." -- Christina H. Lee, Princeton University * Renaissance Quarterly, vol 71 4, Winter 2018 *
"This book is well supported by a solid theoretical apparatus, primary sources, and a vast bibliography…this well-written book undoubtedly constitutes an essential work on clothing and identity." -- Filomena Barros, University of Évora * Medieval Clothing and Textiles, vol 15 *
"Moors Dressed as Moors will be of great value to scholars and students seeking to understand the complexity that underpins the history of the Morisco minority in Spain. Moreover, given the current controversies relating to the status and cultural assimilation of Muslim minorities in Europe (controversies that continue to involve debates about clothing), this is research that is still very relevant." -- François Soyer, University of New England * The English Historical Review *
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: "Moors dressed as Moors" Part 1. "Morisma nueva de Christianos": Iberian Christian Moorish Clothing 1. Moors at Court 2. Moorish Clothing and Nobility 3. Unlawful Moorishness 4. Lope's Moors: Self-Fashioning and Resentment Part 2. Moorishness is in the Eye of the Beholder: Moriscos as Dressed Bodies 5. Policing Moriscos in Sixteenth-Century Granada 6. Searching for the Iberian Moorish Morisco 7. Moriscos Performing as Moors 8. Moriscos as Theatrical Bodies Conclusions Bibliography
