Women's spirituality: poetry and dance of the Ottoman Empire in Al-Andalus

Activity included in the program of Barcelona Pensa 2021, a philosophy festival organized by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Barcelona to commemorate World Philosophy Day, on November 18. It is a day in which thought and reflection on the world leave the classroom and fill the streets, occupying spaces and reaching audiences of all kinds.

Lately, Andalusian women's poetry has attracted the attention of both academic and non-academic circles. A small part of the production of about forty poets has been preserved: important, substantial and of great thematic variety. Among them, the best known voice is that of the Umayyad princess Wallada (Córdoba, 11th century), but there are many more who have made up the polyphonic mosaic of verses composed in the form of classical casidas. Adile Sultan (1826-1899) offers us the rich experience of approaching the spiritual realities she lived through her unique poetic work, Divan, which can be understood as a symbol of communication with the sacred. Through poetry, she tried to express a spiritual adventure in which the universe is not only explained from the merely physical.  

Photo: Noemí Duran Salvador

Organises:Barcelona Pensa

Produces: Nesrin Karavar, Marga Castells and Noemi Duran Salvadó