The Role of Travelogues in Representing Qajar Politics and Kingship to the West
Keywords:
Travelogue, Qajar monarchy, Representation, Orientalism, Colonial discourse, Western foreign policy, Discourse analysisAbstract
This article examines the role of travelogues in representing the Qajar monarchy and constructing a specific image of politics and power in Iran as seen by the West. Travelogues, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, served as primary sources for analyzing Iranian politics, culture, and social structure. These texts not only directly describe Iran and its power relations but also function as tools for producing and consolidating colonial and Orientalist discourses. This paper particularly focuses on the discursive analysis of travelogues that depict Iran as a country devoid of rationality, corrupt, and despotic. This derogatory image, especially in works such as those by Edward Browne, Lord Curzon, and Colonel Shiel, was repeatedly used to legitimize Western political and military interventions in Iran and other Eastern countries. The study explores the role of these travelogues in producing and reinforcing colonial discourses and their discursive consequences on Western foreign policy towards Iran. Additionally, the paper highlights the limitations of this research and the need for further studies in this field.
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References
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