Romantic metaphysics originated in magic and serves to veil reality

Evidence

Indeed, the central Najwa–Tamer relationship bears the hallmarks of the romance form while at the same time subtly transvaluing and diverting that form. The search for love is a central theme of the book. However, a distinction is drawn between sexual love and spiritual love, or love for the Prophet. Najwa’s sexual consummation with Anwar leaves her feeling fragile and soiled. By contrast, Tamer shares her religious priorities. However, it is noticeable that he operates to reconcile the spiritual and the sensual—the latter still a powerful force in Najwa’s makeup. There is much emphasis on touch in both relationships: Najwa experiences an acute physical response to both men—even via simple physical proximity. Tamer’s first kiss immediately follows the religious outrage he and Najwa share over a party guest’s sacrilegious use of the hijab in an impromptu striptease, and their first encounter in the lobby of the St John’s Wood apartment has an erotic edge that is nonetheless couched in religious terms—a breathless Najwa feels she can almost “smell Paradise” on him (3). Thus, the usual romance dynamics are set in play. What differs in Minaret is that they are figured through Islamic ideals and their attendant imagery. This figuration subtly prepares us to accept—or at least expect—that the same ideals will determine valorized characters’ choices, even if that means a rejection of the usual love story resolution. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 483 (#expands, via linked claim)

Romanticism rejected the Enlightenment’s insistence on observable matter and rationalism, instead focusing on the subconscious, dreams, and a wild imagination. As Paul Goetsch explains, “The pre-Romantic and Romantic discourse on imagination and superstition emerged from the Enlightenment’s context of skepticism. Various writers criticized the high evaluation of reason and the predominance of scientific rationalism.” In Gothic horror, dreams often functioned as warnings, as in Zofloya, the Moor, when Victoria has a dream of the Moor shortly before he appears before her. In Dracula, dreams function as a space of the subconscious where the monster and his victims meet. In many examples from the literature, dreams are liminal spaces where the worlds of reality and fantasy collide. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 437 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Romance conventions can be redirected to valorize spiritual over sensual fulfillment — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 483; The Romantic imagination rejected Enlightenment rationalism and embraced the subconscious — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 437; Romanticism projected an exotic Orientalist fantasy rather than accurate knowledge — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 89 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Romance conventions can be redirected to valorize spiritual over sensual fulfillment #expands (0.75) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 483
• The Romantic imagination rejected Enlightenment rationalism and embraced the subconscious #expands (0.75) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 437
• Romanticism projected an exotic Orientalist fantasy rather than accurate knowledge #exemplifies (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 89
• Magic preserved concrete particularity that science flattens into interchangeable matter #expands (0.75)
• Sensation involves a magical inherence of lived and living rather than spatial belonging #corroborates (0.70) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 844
• Veiling and ritual bodily acts train the self into piety #expands (0.70)