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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A Mosque in a Mosque: Some Observations on the Rue Blanchot Mosque in Dakar and its Relation to Other Mosques in the Colonial Period
Author:Cantone, CleoISNI
Year:2006
Periodical:Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:46
Issue:182
Pages:363-387
Language:English
Geographic term:Senegal
Subjects:mosques
architecture
colonial period
Religion and Witchcraft
colonialism
History and Exploration
Urbanization and Migration
Architecture and the Arts
External link:https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.5916
Abstract:This paper examines aspects of the earlier mosques in Dakar, Senegal, exploring their historical and stylistic evolution on the basis of two major sources - contemporary images and archival documentation. Two early mosques are discussed in particular: La mosquée royale and La petite mosquée. The impact of colonialism on Senegalese architecture produced a new type of mosque. Constructed in durable materials and consisting of an amalgam of church architecture and North African elements, this model was adopted in many parts of West Africa. It appears that this style was used to perpetuate the notion of the superiority of 'white' or Arab Islam over local 'black' Islam. Between the mid-1920s and the mid-1930s, however, Christian references were abandoned in favour of a more 'Islamic' repertoire giving rise to another stylistic fusion: Islamic elements are integrated with the latest trends of 'modernist' styles issuing from the Métropole. The paper focuses on the Rue Blanchot mosque, the first monumental mosque of Dakar, whose numerous extensions and transformations provide a visual record of the stylistic changes described. It also outlines the similarities between Blanchot, la mosquée Nord de Saint-Louis and some other mosques in Senegal. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract, edited]
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