Click subject name to see related articles.
Esmaeil Alipoor
Abstract
The travelogues written by Europeans about Iran serve as invaluable research sources in the field of Iranian Studies. They provide insights into aspects of Iranian culture that may have been overlooked or intentionally disregarded by Iranian historians. However, it is important to acknowledge that these ...
Read More
The travelogues written by Europeans about Iran serve as invaluable research sources in the field of Iranian Studies. They provide insights into aspects of Iranian culture that may have been overlooked or intentionally disregarded by Iranian historians. However, it is important to acknowledge that these works may contain elements of exaggeration subjective opinions inappropriate generalizations and biased political inclinations. This study aims to critically examine the portrayal of Iranian culture in the travelogue Beyond the Caspian Sea authored by Arthur Christensen a Danish orientalist and mythologist. Employing a descriptive-analytical approach rooted in the imagology methodology this article explores the travelogue's depiction of Iranian culture. Imagology a comparative literature approach delves into the representation of the "self" through the eyes of the "other" or vice versa with the ultimate goal of understanding the reasons and mechanisms behind this cultural reflection. As an interdisciplinary approach imagology intersects with cultural studies. The central question driving this research is why certain manifestations of Iranian culture and literature particularly those observed during the author's journey to Iran at the end of the Qajar era assume greater prominence in this travelogue. The findings reveal that Christensen's perspective is Europe-centric shaped by inductive reasoning stereotypes and political biases. By accentuating the negative aspects of certain individual and environmental elements of Iranian culture he attempts to generalize them to the entire Iranian cultural realm. The travelogues written by Europeans about Iran serve as invaluable research sources in the field of Iranian Studies. They provide insights into aspects of Iranian culture that may have been overlooked or intentionally disregarded by Iranian historians. However, it is important to acknowledge that these works may contain elements of exaggeration subjective opinions inappropriate generalizations and biased political inclinations. This study aims to critically examine the portrayal of Iranian culture in the travelogue Beyond the Caspian Sea authored by Arthur Christensen a Danish orientalist and mythologist
Click subject name to see related articles.
Amir Pourrastegar
Abstract
European's travelogues are important in understanding "another view", in anthropology and cultural-social history studies area. Sufism and Dervishes are one of the prominent topics in European travelogues, especially in the Qajar era. From this perspective, the present research is based on the ...
Read More
European's travelogues are important in understanding "another view", in anthropology and cultural-social history studies area. Sufism and Dervishes are one of the prominent topics in European travelogues, especially in the Qajar era. From this perspective, the present research is based on the analysis of the travelogues of the European travelers of the Qajar era, who have described and sometimes analyzed dervishes in their reports. It’s obviously clear that issues such as:Sufi dynasties considering Dervishes as a class, Sufism lineages, and Dervishes' behavior and worldview are often associated with ignorance of Sufism, prejudice, superficial, and incognito. The approach of this research shows the four components of "Oral Dervish Literature", "Beliefs", "Beggary and Unemployment", "External journey", "Spells and Magic". "Using intoxicants and hypnotic substances" are more prominent in western travelogues. A few of these travel writers, including Polak, Browne, and Gobineau, have an Orientalist approach in its research-following sense towards Sufism and have combined it with their observations; Among other things, they have presented reports about the Sufi dynasties of the Qajar era, especially Ahl al-Haq, the origin of Sufism, and Iranian Enlightenment thought. Apart from this, in other travelogues, the spirit of Sufism is often not mentioned. In most of these travelogues, Sufism and mysticism have been relegated to the school of laziness and unrestrainedness, and wandering dervishes and storytellers have been portrayed as addicted to weed and marijuana. The results of the description and analysis of the aforementioned travelogues show that the reports of these travelers about Sufism in the Qajar era has only been narrated in the form of "affected dervishism", along with "generalization", "defects", "strangeness" and " Magnification".
Kolsoum Ghazanfari; Amin Babadi
Abstract
European's travelogues are important in understanding "another view", in anthropology and cultural-social history studies area. Sufism and Dervishes are one of the prominent topics in European travelogues, especially in the Qajar era. From this perspective, the present research is based on ...
Read More
European's travelogues are important in understanding "another view", in anthropology and cultural-social history studies area. Sufism and Dervishes are one of the prominent topics in European travelogues, especially in the Qajar era. From this perspective, the present research is based on the analysis of the travelogues of the European travelers of the Qajar era, who have described and sometimes analyzed dervishes in their reports. It’s obviously clear that issues such as:Sufi dynasties considering Dervishes as a class, Sufism lineages, and Dervishes' behavior and worldview are often associated with ignorance of Sufism, prejudice, superficial, and incognito. The approach of this research shows the four components of "Oral Dervish Literature", "Beliefs", "Beggary and Unemployment", "External journey", "Spells and Magic". "Using intoxicants and hypnotic substances" are more prominent in western travelogues. A few of these travel writers, including Polak, Browne, and Gobineau, have an Orientalist approach in its research-following sense towards Sufism and have combined it with their observations; Among other things, they have presented reports about the Sufi dynasties of the Qajar era, especially Ahl al-Haq, the origin of Sufism, and Iranian Enlightenment thought. Apart from this, in other travelogues, the spirit of Sufism is often not mentioned. In most of these travelogues, Sufism and mysticism have been relegated to the school of laziness and unrestrainedness, and wandering dervishes and storytellers have been portrayed as addicted to weed and marijuana. The results of the description and analysis of the aforementioned travelogues show that the reports of these travelers about Sufism in the Qajar era has only been narrated in the form of "affected dervishism", along with "generalization", "defects", "strangeness" and " Magnification".
