The Reflection of Religious Practices and Symbols of Guilanis in Qajar-era Travelogues

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 raduate of non-profit and non-governmental higher education research

2 Assistant Prof. of Research Institute of Guilan Studies, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

3 Associate professor, Department of Social Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract
One of the best ways to understand various phenomena related to political and economic structures, as well as the public and social culture, is to examine the perspectives of individuals who evaluate these phenomena as external observers. Therefore, studying the works left behind by travelers and tourists who visited Guilan for various purposes and recorded their experiences in travelogues or memoirs is of great importance. The main research question addressed in the present study is: How were the religious practices of Guilanis reflected in the travelogues of the Qajar era? In the present study, using quantitative content analysis, an effort was made to explore and represent the religious practices and symbols mentioned in European travelogues from the Qajar period, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of Guilan's social history. Theoretically, using Stuart Hall's Theory of Representation, selected indicators and categories were examined within the geographical context of Guilan, as seen through the eyes of thirteen European travel writers—those who either resided in Guilan or passed through the region at certain times. The obtained data were categorized into three main themes including "Rituals and Symbols" (with the highest frequency of indicators such as religious sites, prayers and supplications, and attention to prophets), "Religious Laws" (with the highest frequency of indicators such as women's veiling, the impurity of non-Muslims, and alcohol consumption), and "Religions" (focusing on Islam and Christianity).

Keywords


Akbari, Hamid Reza and Gholamalizadeh, Khosrow and Tafakkori Rezaei, Shoja. (2019). The Representation of Social Actors in Dar Boyer- Ahmad within Van Leeuwen's Framework (A CDA Approach), Literary Text Research, Year 23, No. 82, pp. 165-139.
Allemagne, Henry Rene d. (1999). Du Khorassan au pays des Backhtiaris: trois mois de voyage en Perse, translated by Gholamreza Sami'i, Tūs Publishing House.
Anet, Claude. (2011). Laperse en Automobile, translated by Fazlollah Jelveh, first edition, Revāyat Publishing.
Azad Aramaki, Taghi (2009). History of Social Thought in Islam from the Beginning to the Contemporary Period, Tehran: ʻElm Publishing.
Binder, Henry. (2010). Au Kurdistan en Mesopotamie et en Perse (mission scientifique du Ministere de l'Instruction publique, translated by Keramatullah Afsar, Farhangsara Publishing House.
Brugsch, Heinrich Karl. (1995). Im lande der Sonne, translated by Mohammad Jalilvand, Tehran, Markaz Publishing House.
Jaubert, Pierre Amedee Emilien Probe. (1968). Voyage en Armenie et en perse, fait dans les annees 18 e5 et 1806, translated by Ali Qoli Etemad Moghadam, Iranian Culture Foundation Publishing House.
Kosogovskii, Vladimir Andreovich. (1965). Colonel Kosogovskii's memoirs, translated by Abbasgholi Jali, Tehran, Kāvīān Publishing House.
MacKenzie, Charles. (1980). Travelogue of the North, translated by Mansoureh Ettehadieh, Gostareh Publishing House.
Marchenko, Mitrofan konstantinovich (1982). M.Martchenko Un voyage en perse pendant la revo lution Russe, translated by M.R. Zain al-Dini, Qom, Translator's Publishing House.
Melgunov, Grigoriy Valerianovich. (1987). Das sudliche ufer des kaspischen Meeres, oder die Nordprovinzen Persiens, translated by Amir Houshang Amini, Tehran, first edition, Ketab Sarā Publishing House.
Nikitine, Basile. (1987). Memoirs and travelogue of Monsieur Basile Nikitine, former Russian consul in Iran, translated by Ali Mohammad Farahvashy, Tehran, Kānūn-e Maʻrefat Publications.
Orsolle, Ernest. (2003). Le Caucase et La perse, translated by Ali Asghar Saeedi, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
Rabino, Hyacinth Louis. (1978). Les provinces caspiennes de la Perse: le Gilan, translated by Jafar Khomamizadeh, Rasht, Iranian Culture Foundation Publishing House.
Serena, Carla. (1999). Memoirs of Madame Carla Serena, People and Rituals in Iran, translated by Ali Asghar Saeedi, Tehran, Naqš-e ǰahān Publishing House.
Smith, Philip Daniel (2008). Cultural theory: an introduction, translated by Hassan Pouyan, Tehran: Cultural Research Office.
Hall, Stuart (2003), Representation, London, Sage Publication.
Hatam, Zahra & Arian, Foad & Salimi, Khadijeh (2015), “Social and Cultural Images of Qajar-Iran Customs in European Travel Diaries”, Asian Culture and History, pp. 29-41.
Mahdavi, Shireen (2005), “Shahs, Doctors, Diplomats and Missionaries in 19 century Iran”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Nov., 2005), pp. 169-191. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30037691
Mahdavi, Shireen (2012), “Everyday Life in Late Qajar Iran”, Iranian Studies, 45(3), 355–370. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41445214
 Hall, Stuart (1997), Representat'ion Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, LONDON, SAGE Publications.
Hall, Stuart. Hobson, Dorothy. Lowe, Andrew, Willis, Paul (2004), Culture, media, language: Working papers in cultural studies, 1972-79, The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, USA: Routledge.
Volume 16, Issue 61
Autumn 2024
Autumn 2024
Pages 33-56

  • Receive Date 21 December 2024
  • Revise Date 11 February 2025
  • Accept Date 09 March 2025
  • Publish Date 21 November 2024