| Abstrakt: |
Common stereotypes describe Latin America as remote from and even the opposite of Arab and Islamic countries: divergent languages, different geographies, distant continents. According to current regional imaginations, we are too removed culturally, and geographically, to imagine a possible connection between both cultures. Latin American history--in particular its architecture--is full of links to Islamic culture throughout five centuries, from the Arabic heritage of Iberian conquerors to more recent migrations and global connections. As yet, these links have frequently gone unnoticed or have been considered minor issues, the results of exotic and foreign influences. However, Islamic architecture is not an outlying influence in region but is instead an internal component, a necessary prerequisite of a decolonial understanding of the architectural history of the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
