Historic Engagements with Occidental Cultures, Religions, Powers

315 Pages·2014·1.16 MB·English

by  Anne R. Richards, Iraj Omidvar (eds.)

Postcolonialism and Religions
The Postcolonialism and Religions series by its very name bridges the
secular with the sacred through hybrid, interstitial, and contrapuntal
inquiries. The series features the scholarship of indigenous scholars work-
ing at the intersections of postcolonial theories, theologies, and religions.
The editors welcome authors around the world in an effort to move
beyond and interrogate a historical North American and Euro-centric
postcolonial studies disciplinary dominance. The series seeks to foster
subaltern voices especially from Africa, Asia, Central and South America,
and the liquid continent.
J. Jayakiran Sebastian is a Presbyter of the Church of South India and
H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures at The Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He has served as Professor and
Chairperson of the Department of Theology and Ethics at the United
Theological College in Bangalore.
Joseph F. Duggan is a Presbyter in The Episcopal Church and an Episcopal
Church Foundation Academic Fellow. He is the founder of Postcolonial
Networks and the Journal of Postcolonial Networks.
Decolonizing the Body of Christ
Theology and Theory after Empire?
Edited By David Joy and Joseph Duggan
A Postcolonial African American Re-reading of Colossians
Identity, Reception, and Interpretation under the Gaze of Empire
Annie Tinsley
Caste, Gender and Christianity in Colonial India:
Telugu Women in Mission
James Elisha Taneti
Indigenous Australia and the Unfinished Business of Theology:
Cross-Cultural Engagement
Edited by Jione Havea
Historic Engagements with Occidental Cultures, Religions, Powers
Edited by Anne R. Richards and Iraj Omidvar
Praise for Historic Engagements with Occidental
Cultures, Religions, Powers
“The fascinating collection of essays in this volume provides a rich array
of vantage points from which to consider how travelers to European and
North American societies have historically responded to and imaginatively
constructed a Western other. In their incisive analyses of little-known
sources that reverse the dominant flow of Orientalist knowledge produc-
tion, the contributors reveal the complex workings of the outward-look-
ing gaze in the construction of modern cosmopolitan identities.”
—David Porter,
University of Michigan, USA
“Edward Said proposes the need to see the Other (the Oriental) through
the Other, but can we also see Us (the Occidental) through the very per-
spective of the Other? This is the question rightfully raised and discussed
in Historic Engagements with Occidental Cultures, Religions, Powers, a
truly insightful piece in post-colonial and cross-cultural studies among
others.”
—Yong-Kang Wei,
University of Texas at Brownsville, USA
“Historic Engagements with Occidental Cultures, Religions, Powers is a rich
collection of essays that de-centers the traditional Orientalist framework
by reclaiming the legitimacy of oriental actors and their discourses of the
West as ‘other.’ This is a volume that promises to challenge our under-
standing of the limitations of colonialism even as it broadens our knowl-
edge of the gaze of the subject. Informative and instructive, Richards
and Omidvar have gathered together a significant group of scholars and
leaders in the emerging field of Occidental Studies.”
—Sandra Trudgen Dawson,
Northern Illinois University, USA
“This is a rich and eclectic collection that provides a fresh perspective on
the idea and reality of the ‘West’ by drawing upon commentaries from
both a deep historical past and an expansive geography.”
—Mrinalini Sinha, Alice Freeman Palmer Professor,
History, University of Michigan, USA
Historic Engagements

with Occidental Cultures,
Religions, Powers
Edited by
Anne R. Richards and
Iraj Omidvar
ISBN 978-1-349-48757-8 ISBN 978-1-137-40502-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-40502-9
HISTORIC ENGAGEMENTS WITH OCCIDENTAL CULTURES, RELIGIONS, POWERS
Copyright © Anne R. Richards and Iraj Omidvar, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-40501-2
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–1–137–40501–2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Historic engagements with occidental cultures, religions, powers /
Anne R. Richards and Iraj Omidvar, editors.
pages cm.—(Postcolonialism and religions)
Summary: “Historic Engagements with Occidental Cultures,
Religions, Powers explores centuries of unequal power relations and
imperial and civilizing rhetorics, overarching themes highlighted in
these infrequently heard accounts by Eastern travelers to the West.
Considered in depth are evolutions in mental frameworks and practices
that led to the emergence of anticolonial consciousness and strategies
of protest”—Provided by publisher.
Includes index.
ISBN 978–1–137–40501–2 (alk. paper)
1. East and West—History. 2. Western countries—Foreign public
opinion, Asian. 3. Asia—Relations—Western countries. 4. Western
countries—Relations—Asia. 5. Imperialism—History. 6. Western
countries—Description and travel. 7. Asians—Travel—Western
countries—History. 8. Muslims—Travel—Western countries—History.
9. Travelers—Western countries—History. 10. Travelers’ writings.
I. Richards, Anne R., 1961– editor. II. Omidvar, Iraj, editor.
CB251.H58 2014
918.2(cid:25)104—dc23 2014014467
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: October 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For our father Barnett C. Cook,

singer, soldier, scientist,
traveler, teller of tales
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Consider what thou beholdest, O man;

and be on thy guard before thou departest;
and prepare good provision, that thou mayest enjoy it;
for every dweller in a house shall depart.
—Stories from the Thousand and One Nights
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Contents

Acknowledgments xi
Introduction R ecovering Oriental Perspectives on the West 1
Iraj Omidvar and Anne R. Richards
Part I Western and Eastern Europe
1 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Eastern Orthodoxy, and
the Crystal Palace 35
Roger Chapman
2 The Moor’s First Sight: An Arab Poet in a
Ninth-Century Viking Court 57
Nizar F. Hermes
Part II Northern Africa and Western Asia
3 Ubeydullah Effendi in the United States:
The Impressions of an Ottoman Intellectual
regarding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair 73
Birgül Koçak Oksev
4 Imperial Narratives: Islamic Concepts of Inclusion
and Exclusion in Ibn Fadlan’s Account of His
Mission to the Bulgars 89
Nina Berman
5 Two Muslim Travelers to the West in the
Nineteenth Century 111
Ahmed K. Al-Rawi
Part III Southern Asia
6 Ajaibāt-e-Farang: Yousuf Khan Kambalposh’s
Metropolitan Journey and Ways of Seeing the West 133
Masood Ashraf Raja