M. Harrigan, Veiled Encounters. Representing the Orient in 17th-Century French Travel Literature

Compte rendu publié dans le dossier critique d'Acta fabula, "Littératures de voyage (juin 2010, Vol. 11, n°6) : "Visions d'Orient à l'âge classique" par Olivia Ayme.

M. Harrigan, Veiled Encounters. Representing the Orient in 17th-Century French Travel Literature, Rodopi, collection "Faux Titre", 2010. EAN13 : 9789042024762.

RÉSUMÉ

Travel narratives were the principal source of knowledge about the lands of the Near East and the Indian Ocean Basin in 17th-century France. Claiming the authority of first-hand observation, they paradoxically rely for their legitimization on the tropes of an established literary tradition. The status of these texts remained ambiguous, not least because of their anecdotal depictions of great riches, brutality or sexual promise. Drawing on the insights of post-colonial scholarship, this study tackles a question given scant attention in previous work and suggests that beyond the hazy representation of the Orient, an opposition emerges between the threatening Near East and the indolent East Indies. Distinguishing recognizable representations from those generated by new encounters, this book questions the feasibility of cultural representation through travel, exploring a large corpus of original sources written by French ecclesiastics, gentlemen-travellers, ambassadors and adventurers. Linguistic, religious, cultural or geographical barriers meant most travellers remained distanced from the peoples on which they would simultaneously become authoritative. The encounter was further transformed in narratives which were intended to entertain and to satisfy the criterion of curiosité. The ‘Oriental' that emerges is a supremely variable entity, alternately naked or veiled, barbaric or civilized, menacing or attractive.

TABLE DES MATIÈRES

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Chapter 1. Capturing Cultural Encounter
Chapter 2. The Literature of Encounter
Chapter 3. Threat and the Near East
Chapter 4. The East Indies: le Jardin de l'Orient
Chapter 5. Aventures in the Orient
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index