LE PAYSAGE DE SOI
THE LANDSCAPE OF THE SELF

Summary/Abstract: Since the advent of Islam, al-adab, or self-education, has been a divine demand to which the individual must conform. It is also an invitation and a path to self-building. In the Koran, this invitation is often expressed through allegorical "stories" featuring nature. Medieval literature was inspired by this particular teaching of moral virtues. What's more, the medieval Arab philosophers, such as Iẖwān al-Ṣafā, assert that observation and self-knowledge are among the priorities. Therefore, starting from all these findings, we will endeavour to define the notion of self-image or “landscape of the self” and the role of nature and art in assimilating the construction of the self. This study will be mainly based on philosophical thoughts from the Arab medieval period and on an analysis of artistic Islamic illustrations.

• Details
• Contents