Moorish legacy in Spain
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The sub-heading of this book is Unlocking the secrets of Moorish Spain and is a follow-up of Webster's first book DUENDE: a journey in search of flamenco which became an acclaimed big seller. Having studied Arabic in Oxford, Webster lived for several years in Italy and Egypt then went to Spain to learn to play the flamenco guitar; he now lives in Valencia with his Spanish wife
Like many Hispanophiles, he's had a long-lasting fascination with the Moorish past of this country, whether trigered by the sublime Alhambra in Granada, the dramatic and beautiful Great Mosque in Cordoba or the surprising number of Arabic root words in the Spanish language. Gibraltar which the Spanish insist is theirs could realistically be claimed by Morocco or other North African countries - after all, it's named after a Moor - jabal Tariq - the mountain of Tariq, the first Arab to conquer Spain.
For eight centuries Christians, Muslims and Jews lived and worked side by side. It was a period of great cultural and artistic blossoming. The Moors in Spain had the first universities, the first paper factories and the first street lighting in the whole of Europe. The Arabs learned paper-making from the Chinese artisans on capturing Samarkand. Indeed, the Moors first crossed the Strait to Spain in the Dark Ages, at about the same time as Bede was writing his History. At the time Spain was under Visigothic rule, the German tribes having moved in and taken over as the Roman Empire collapsed.
`Moor' was the term used to describe Muslims in Spain - Arabs, Berbers, Syrians, Persians and eventually Spaniards; it originated from the Latin maurus, which had been used to refer to North Africans.
Eventually the Christian Reconquest started to bite and in 1492 the Moors were expelled from what had become their country. What followed was religious intolerance, epitomised by the Inquisition. In modern Spain now annual `Moors and Christians' fiestas occur in many towns and cities; these are colourful and quite spectacular events.
Two hundred years before the Reconquest Arabic scholars translated great medical and mathematical works from the original Greek. By way of the Reconquest many of these works were translated into Latin, notably in Toledo. It could even be argued that the Arabic learning laid the foundations of the later Renaissance.
Webster was curious to see how the Moorish influence persisted even to this day, beyond these fiestas - ironically at a time when the Spanish government is having difficulty stemming the tide of illegal immigrants from Morocco.
He read an old legend about Musa the Moor, the richest, strongest and most powerful caliph in ancient Spain. As the Christian armies were advancing, Musa asked his friendly jinn to safeguard his riches - which he did by turning them into stone in a special cave; but Musa's daughter Zoraida didn't want to flee, so she was turned into a tree outside the cave. But for one day in every year, as spring arrives, Princess Zoraida comes back to life and all the Caliph's riches gleam and shine again. Only for one day the spell is broken. Webster was enchanted by this tale and wondered if, like the Caliph's riches, much of the Moorish heritage was hidden from view, only waiting to be discovered.
The book begins with Webster incognito under the plastic sheeting of a fruit farm, doing some journalistic research on the illegal immigrants working in appalling conditions. Because they're illegal, the immigrants are locked up at night and monitored by guards; they get no pay, only food and cramped sleeping quarters. Slavery was alive and well, it seemed. Then he was discovered and had to flee, aided by a young Moroccan called Zine. They got away but Webster now felt beholden to Zine and attempted to find work for him - a difficult task when he had no papers.
Accompanied by his own modern-day Moor for most of his journey of discovery, Webster meets a number of fascinating characters in Cordoba, Murcia, Almeria and Seville, among other southern Spain and Portugeuse towns. There's an amusing visit to a clinica de enfermedades sexuales in Seville; I could have done without the over-long surreal Christmas party in a Valencia disco. On the way he reminds us of the Moorish legacy in the language - many words beginning with `a' or `al' have Arabic roots, whether English or Spanish - `Cotton' - algodon in Spanish - comes from the Arabic al-qutun, for example.
Webster has an observant eye and a deceptively easy writing style which enliven a fascinating quick tour round the Moorish history via modern-day towns and cities of Spain.
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A Taste of Moorish Spain
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I enjoyed this book. Knowing little about the subject, and having read the author's book about modern Spain's attitude to the Civil War, I thought this would be a good introduction.
Some of the negative comments here perhaps come from the expectations that readers might have of the book. If you want a historical discourse about Moorish Spain, then this clearly isn't for you. If you want to learn about the country's current political landscape, then there are doubtless better sources than this. But if you want to begin to see modern Spain and its connections to the Islamic past in the company of an informed outsider, then you can certainly do much worse.
This book left me wanting to learn more about the 800 years of Muslim rule in Al Andalus. It reminds me of having a conversation with a friend in a pub. They tell you something, share their interest in a subject and you follow it up to satisfy your curiousity. It's a conversational work and that's not a pejorative description. Writing in this style is informal but it takes talent, the ability to communicate well, to do so.
Perhaps the author does romanticise Spain's Islamic past; perhaps he doesn't present a fully rounded perspective on the relationship between the invading Muslims and the indigenous population; but if he does, then perhaps that's a reaction to the overt hostility and ignorance towards Islam that is found in the modern world today. I'll be reading more.
One thing's odd, though. The author makes clear that one aspect of today's Spain that has no Moorish roots and that is bull fighting. Why does the cover of the book depict this, then? I suppose that's one for the publishers and their take on what the average non-Spaniard will identify with Spain but it doesn't exactly fit in with the content of the book!
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Weak
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I'm currently reading this book and I had hoped to find it a fascinating read about the Moorish legacy to Spain. It's interesting in parts but I find the inclusion of the author's Moroccan companion and his own personal quest not wholly believable nor the altogether too frequent coincidental appearances of the writer's old friends.
The author clearly wants to prove that an enormous amount of the Spanish language and culture should be attributed to the Moors. There are too many conjectural links between Spanish and Arabic words for my own liking. For instance, he attributes the introduction of the practice of roasting peppers to the Moors. But seeing that their final expulsion from Spain in 1492 preceded Columbus's discovery of the New World and the pepper plant, it seems impossible to me. A disappointing read.
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Mixed feelings
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Having lived in Spain for years and having a Spanish background, I can't help but feel that the author is a bit carried away by the romanticism of Moorish Spain. Yes, the Arabs had a huge influence on Spain, the language and architecture - but we must not forget that the Arab culture influenced the whole world as well, in many areas he mentions himself such as mathematics, language (after all 'rice' and 'arroz' and 'sugar' and azucar' all have the same roots), philosophy and much more. It is almost like he is seeing too much of the Arab past in a country which has also had many other influences, and where Islam has been gone 500 years.
What I DID find fascinating and maybe the author lets through unintentionally is the complete social change in Spain even in the last 20 years - the ease with which his Moroccan companion sleeps with Spanish girls at the drop of a hat would have been undheard of recently in Spain, where women were not known to be as 'easy' as in Norther European countries. The dark world of sex clubs (where there is a scene in this book of people performed sex acts to a background of a nativity scene on Christmas Eve), 'clap clincs' and Nigerian prostitutes are one of the negative aspects of the modernisastion of Spain and one which surpirsed me as I have not lived in Spain since the early 90s (OK, I know these things have always been around but not as blatant as they seem to be now).
Webster has always had romantic ideals of Spain (this was also seen in 'Duende' his book about flamenco where he was fascinated by the seedy world of gypsies and was dragged into their drug ridden world). I hope he is not disolusioned of his dreams as his books do at least make for an ententertaining read.
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Wonderful!
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Like the author I too share a fascination of Spains's often neglected Islamic past, and this book brilliantly brings to light the strong influence the Moors had on Spainish culture.
It reminds me of the time I spent exploring the Alhambra & Seville. Indeed the book has inspired me to book another trip to Spain to explore Cordoba & Valencia.
It's wondefully written & enagaing. It left me wondering what happened to Zine & Lucia!
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