Date and Time: June 19 (Thu), 2025, 14:00-16:00 (Japan Time)

Venue: Main Conference Room (3F), Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo

Title: 'Better a live sparrow than a stuffed eagle': Nineteenth-century British Orientalism and perceptions of Persian Sufism

Speaker: Lloyd Ridgeon (Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia)

Moderator: Kazuo Morimoto (Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia)

Registration: To register for this event, please fill in the form below by June 18 (Wed), 2025, 12:00 PM (JST).

                      https://forms.gle/qEH3gGbUPQEFU5Ek8 

Language: English 

Abstract: Nineteenth-century British perceptions of Persian Sufism contribute to the understanding of the contemporary, fraught relations between the two nations. By analysing the sources (essays, translations, missionary works, travel writings) this essay categorises British perceptions in three ways. The first concerns the quest to discover Sufi origins and includes debates about Aryanism; the second posits the paradigm of Sufis as “dirty and libertarian dervishes”; and the final category presents a more positive perspective of Sufism. Subsequently, the essay discusses the veracity, implications and effects of all three, including an analysis of how some of these views have been embraced by Iranians in the twentieth century in nationalist depictions of Iranian culture and religion. Finally, an assessment is made about applying Said’s concept of Orientalism to nineteenth-century British Orientalism.

Keywords: Nineteenth-century British Orientalism, Aryanism, Persian Sufism, dervishes, E. G. Browne

Contact: inquiry_20250619[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp