Lecture by Dr. Christine Kämpfer
“Just another Travelogue on Qājār Persia? Exploring the Travel Diaries of the German Botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903) and his observations on society under Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh”
2023.08.07
| Date / Time | Sat 9 Sep 2023 16:00–17:15 (Doors open at 15:45) |
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| Venue | in-person (Seminar Room, 3F of Hongo Satellite, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) (2-14-10 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Access) ＋ online * Pre-registration is required. → Registration (Deadline: 22:00, 7 Sep 2023) |
| Admission | Free |
| Language | English |
| Organized by | Global Mediterranean at ILCAA |
| Contact | gmed.ilcaa★gmail.com (Secretariat of the Global Mediterranean Project at ILCAA) Please change ★ to @. |
Program
| 16:00–16:05 | Introduction |
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| 16:05–16:45 | Dr. Christine Kämpfer (Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg) “Just another Travelogue on Qājār Persia? Exploring the Travel Diaries of the German Botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903) and his observations on society under Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh” |
| 16:45–17:15 | Discussion |
Title and abstract
Just another Travelogue on Qājār Persia? Exploring the Travel Diaries of the German Botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903) and his observations on society under Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh
Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh’s (1831-1896) era saw an enormous increase in foreigners coming to Persia as diplomats, missionaries, and European company representatives. Among these travelers was the German botanist Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903), whose aim was to collect plants and information on the local botany. Haussknecht undertook two botanical expeditions to the so-called Orient: the first in 1865 to the Ottoman Empire, the second in 1866-1869 to the Ottoman Empire and Persia. He recorded his observations in 15 booklets, totaling about 1000 pages, during both journeys. His diaries were never published, thus his travels are mostly unknown beyond the field of botany. The travel diaries of Haussknecht provide insights into the society, politics, and economy of Persia during the 19th century. However, since the diaries were never edited during his own lifetime, they reveal not only the genesis of a travelogue but they also provide a meta level access to Qājār society. This especially is visible in Haussknecht’s treatment of reading material, details which would probably have been deleted during an editing process.
This paper presents Haussknecht’s travel diaries as a source for studying Qājār Persia. Additionally, it shows how their meta level can provide a new way of studying the sociocultural landscape of the Nāṣirī period.