“The popular myth of convivencia—the idyllic coexistence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Spain from the Muslim invasion of a.d. 711 to the expulsions of 1492—appeals to the multicultural temper of the times,” writes artist and critic Maureen Mullarkey in The Popular Myth of Conviviencia, and finds an example in a recent exhibition at the Museum of Biblical Art and the catalogue produced for it. Today’s “On the Square” article examines with an expert eye the ways such myths are promoted and the reasons for thinking them myths.
Thursday, June 10, 2010, 7:39 AM
June 10th, 2010 | 2:36 pm
Was this idea ever really intended to be accurately Descriptive? Or wasn’t it rather always, rather more Prescriptive?
June 11th, 2010 | 1:25 am
Brettongarcia: Nice question. But much as I’m tempted to answer “prescriptive,” I can’t help but suspect that there are many who really do intend it to be descriptive. It’s hard to resist the conclusion that they—at least those of this latter group that should know better—are suffering from a Freudian illusion. We do want things to be (have been) better than they actually are (were), and sometimes that gets in the way of our better judgment, especially when we perceive that so much is at stake.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact