As representações pictóricas orientalistas de Sheherazade: a mulher e seu vestuário

Abstract

The present study addresses the orientalist pictorial representations of the character Sheherazade from the literary work One Thousand and One Nights. It considers her characterization in literature, paintings, and the study of the clothing depicted in these images. This is an interdisciplinary study that draws on literature, visual arts, and the history of clothing to better understand the character's portrayal. It is a qualitative and exploratory research, employing bibliographical and documentary procedures, as well as comparative image analysis. The study aims to explore how Sheherazade was idealized, both in terms of her physical depiction and her attire. The research is justified by the need to problematize representations of Sheherazade, contributing to the understanding of how oriental women are represented in western art. The selected works were examined using the method of image montage or constellation, commonly employed in art history, incorporating additional artistic images and clothing items. Based on the bibliographical research and the visual dynamics of the images, the representations were divided into three panels: Sheherazade as a narrator, as a romantic partner, and as a triumphant figure. This analysis revealed how the misidentification of the Arab world in the 18th and 19th centuries contributed to the creation of a Sheherazade reflecting universalist, exotic, and often sexualized conceptions of oriental women. The complex Arab world and its historical transformations, including Orientalism itself, made the identification of specific clothing items challenging and inconclusive. Therefore, we propose this study as the beginning of a dynamic and exploratory investigation into the visual conception of the protagonist, open to critique and new perspectives.