abstract

The reportage and travelogue of Westerns describing Iranians and their physical appearance, events, culture, customs (etc.) during Qajar period (1789-1925) often refer as one of the most interesting presentations of national character. At the heart of this paper lies a critical engagement with the orientalism theory and representation of East –including noble savage/ uncivilized –by Westerners. It sheds light into relations based on religion and religiosity as a significant element of Western’s travel writings of Iran. The main question however is how contemporary sociological research about Iran can benefit from re-thinking about orientalism in travel writing from Iran.