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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 ...
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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
