Harem: the world behind the veil
Author:
Publisher:
Abbeville Press
Pub. Date:
[1989]
Edition:
1st ed
Language:
English
Description
A fascinating illustrated history of one of the strangest, and cruelest, cultural institutions ever devised. A worldwide best seller, translated into twenty-five languages.
I was born in a konak (old house), which once was the harem of a pasha,” writes Alev Lytle Croutier. People around me often whispered things about harems; my own grandmother and her sister had been brought up in one.”
Drawing on a host of firsthand accounts and memoirs, as well as her own family history, Croutier explores life in the world’s harems, from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century, focusing on the fabled Seraglio of Topkapi Palace as a paradigm for them all. We enter the slave markets and the lavish boudoirs of the sultanas; we witness the daily routines of the odalisques, and of the eunuchs who guarded the harem. Here, too, we learn of the labyrinthine political scheming among the sultan’s wives, his favorites, and the valide sultanathe sultan’s motherwhose power could eclipse that of the sultan himself.
There were the harems of the sultans and the pashas, but there were also middle-class” harems, the households in which ordinary men and women lived out ordinaryalbeit polygamouslives. Croutier reveals their marital customs, child-rearing practices, and superstitions. Finally, she shows how this Eastern institution invaded the European imaginationin the form of decoration, costume, and artand how Western ideas, in turn, finally eroded a system that had seemed eternal. Juxtaposing a rich array of illustrationsWestern paintings, Turkish and Persian miniatures, family photographs, and even film stillsCroutier demystifies the Western erotic fantasy of the world behind the veil.” This revised and updated 25th anniversary edition of Harem includes a new introduction by the author, revisiting her subject in light of recent events in Turkey, and the world.
I was born in a konak (old house), which once was the harem of a pasha,” writes Alev Lytle Croutier. People around me often whispered things about harems; my own grandmother and her sister had been brought up in one.”
Drawing on a host of firsthand accounts and memoirs, as well as her own family history, Croutier explores life in the world’s harems, from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century, focusing on the fabled Seraglio of Topkapi Palace as a paradigm for them all. We enter the slave markets and the lavish boudoirs of the sultanas; we witness the daily routines of the odalisques, and of the eunuchs who guarded the harem. Here, too, we learn of the labyrinthine political scheming among the sultan’s wives, his favorites, and the valide sultanathe sultan’s motherwhose power could eclipse that of the sultan himself.
There were the harems of the sultans and the pashas, but there were also middle-class” harems, the households in which ordinary men and women lived out ordinaryalbeit polygamouslives. Croutier reveals their marital customs, child-rearing practices, and superstitions. Finally, she shows how this Eastern institution invaded the European imaginationin the form of decoration, costume, and artand how Western ideas, in turn, finally eroded a system that had seemed eternal. Juxtaposing a rich array of illustrationsWestern paintings, Turkish and Persian miniatures, family photographs, and even film stillsCroutier demystifies the Western erotic fantasy of the world behind the veil.” This revised and updated 25th anniversary edition of Harem includes a new introduction by the author, revisiting her subject in light of recent events in Turkey, and the world.
More Details
ISBN:
9780896599031
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | fbc492c2-e1f3-86e1-dc99-fa9d8430150d |
---|---|
Grouping Title | harem the world behind the veil |
Grouping Author | alev lytle croutier |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2023-01-30 23:38:11PM |
Last Indexed | 2023-01-31 05:03:23AM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Croutier, Alev Lytle, 1944-
author_display
Croutier, Alev Lytle
available_at_eagleriver
Eagle River Olson Library
detailed_location_eagleriver
Eagle River Adult Nonfiction
display_description
format_category_eagleriver
Books
format_eagleriver
Book
id
fbc492c2-e1f3-86e1-dc99-fa9d8430150d
isbn
9780896599031
itype_eagleriver
BOOK - PAPERBACK
last_indexed
2023-01-31T11:03:23.143Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_eagleriver
305.42 CRO (pbk)
owning_library_eagleriver
Eagle River Olson Library
owning_location_eagleriver
Eagle River Olson Library
primary_isbn
9780896599031
publishDate
1989
publisher
Abbeville Press
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Harems -- History
Women -- Islamic countries -- History
Women -- Turkey -- History
Women in art
Women -- Islamic countries -- History
Women -- Turkey -- History
Women in art
title_display
Harem : the world behind the veil
title_full
Harem : the world behind the veil / Alev Lytle Croutier
title_short
Harem
title_sub
the world behind the veil
topic_facet
Harems
History
Women
Women in art
History
Women
Women in art
Solr Details Tables
item_details
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b1009703x | .i10135030 | Eagle River Adult Nonfiction | 305.42 CRO (pbk) | 1 | false | false | Available | Nov 22, 2021 | eranf |
record_details
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b1009703x | Book | Books | 1st ed | English | Abbeville Press | [1989] | 224 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm |
scoping_details_eagleriver
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
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ils:.b1009703x | .i10135030 | On Shelf | Available | false | true | true | false | false | true | 9999 |