Odalisque

Ingres , Grande Odalisque

François Boucher , Odalisque

Resting Odalisque, von Dassel, 1745, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg

Odalisque ( Ottoman اوطه لق odalık ; fromاوطه oda , German 'Gemach, Zimmer' , in the literal sense of the word “roommate”) is a historical name for the fair-skinned concubines or chambermaids who were intended for personal service in the harem of the Sultan or other high-ranking persons of the Ottoman Empire . They were servants of the sultan's wives and were under the supervision of the sultan's mother, the Valide Sultan . Most of the odalisks were Georgian or Circassian slaves (see slavery in Islam ).

Reception in European art

In the painting of the orientalism of the 19th century the representation of odalisques was a common subject . The odalisques were usually shown undressed or with translucent veils or harem pants , lying on carpets or in the bathroom, and served as projection surfaces and vanishing points for male fantasies restricted by a repressive sexual morality. The representations also often resemble images of Venus lying down as an idealization of unattainable femininity.

In contrast to the notions of sexual freedom of movement in the harem chambers cultivated by European contemporaries, the sexual contacts between the sultan, his sons and the concubines were strictly regulated and the majority of the harem residents were obliged to abstain from sex, which is why the harem in this regard has been compared to a nunnery.

The Estonian composer Lepo Sumera wrote a series of chamber music works under the title Odaliskid ("Odalisques") (1997/99).

literature

• Roswitha Gost: The harem. DuMont, Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-7701-2808-7 .
• Anja Pistor-Hatam : Odalisques, Eunuchs and Sultan Mothers: The Religious and Social Practice of Slavery in the Ottoman Empire. In: Anja Pistor-Hatam, Antje Richter (ed.): Beggar, Prostitute, Paria. Marginalized groups in Asian societies. (Asia and Africa. Contributions from the Center for Asian and African Studies (ZAAS) at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Volume 12) EB-Verlag, Hamburg 2008, pp. 123–141

Web links

Commons : Odalisque  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Odalisque  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Elçin Kürsat-Ahlers: Harem women and rule in the Ottoman Empire in its heyday. ( Memento of October 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Teacher fired for showing students this painting . World online
2. ↑ Anja Pistor-Hatam, 2008, p. 134 f.