2024 : 12 : 13
Behzad Pourgharib

Behzad Pourgharib

Academic rank: Associate Professor
ORCID: 0000-0002-6162-7312
Education: PhD.
ScopusId: 57105601500
HIndex:
Faculty: Faculty of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism
Address: دانشگاه مازندران
Phone: 01152283587

Research

Title
Beyond Orientalism: reimagining the oriental other in Western travel writings
Type
JournalPaper
Keywords
Cultural transformation; Orientalism; frembgen; Pakistan; sufism; travel writing
Year
2024
Journal ASIAN ETHNICITY
DOI
Researchers Moussa Pourya Asl ، Behzad Pourgharib ، Soleyman Hamkhiyal

Abstract

The representation of Islamic societies in life narratives by Western voyagers has long been a subject of criticism for their allegedly prejudiced and demeaning portrayal. These narratives are often accused of perpetuating Orientalist discourses and reinforcing Islamophobia. This article problematizes such myopic perspectives by demonstrating how a western-produced travelogue can move beyond hackneyed cultural clichés on the Orient and present an Eastern culture in its opulence. We examine Jürgen Wasim Frembgen’s Nocturnal Music in the Land of the Sufis: The Unheard Pakistan (Frembgen, 2012), which documents the German writer’s mystical journeys into the musical worlds of Pakistan. Drawing upon Bhabha’s concepts of mimicry and hybridity as well as Said’s theory of Orientalism, we argue that the book contests prevailing discourses on western travelogues as apparatuses to reinforce Islamophobia and Orientalism, and instead portrays the country as a dream land that is enriched with olfactory, visual, and auditory appeals.