The Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan: in Asia, Africa, and Europe, during the years 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803 (Broadview Editions) - Softcover

Mirza Abu Taleb Khan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551116723 ISBN 13: 9781551116723

Publisher: Broadview Press, 2008

Synopsis

In 1810, the orientalist scholar Charles Stewart translated and published an extraordinary travel narrative written by a Persian-speaking Indian poet and scholar named Mirza Abu Talib Khan. At the turn of the century, Abu Talib travelled from India to Africa, and on to Ireland, England, and France, where he recorded his observations of European culture with wit and precision. The narrative’s vital and controversial account of British imperial society is one of the earliest examples of a colonial subject addressing the cultural dynamics of metropolitan Britain, and its complex critique of empire challenges many preconceptions about intercultural relations during this era. Following his European sojourn, Abu Talib’s remarkable Shi'ite pilgrimage through present day Turkey and Iraq further enhances his meditation on the encounter between Islam and European modernity.

This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and chronologies of the lives and works of Mirza Abu Talib and Charles Stewart. The appendices offer contemporary reviews of the narrative, selections of British orientalist discourse, and examples of proto-ethnographic writing from the period.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel O’Quinn is Professor of English at the University of Guelph.

From the Back Cover

In 1810, the orientalist scholar Charles Stewart translated and published an extraordinary travel narrative written by a Persian-speaking Indian poet and scholar named Mirza Abu Talib Khan. At the turn of the century, Abu Talib travelled from India to Africa, and on to Ireland, England, and France, where he recorded his observations of European culture with wit and precision. The narrative's vital and controversial account of British imperial society is one of the earliest examples of a colonial subject addressing the cultural dynamics of metropolitan Britain, and its complex critique of empire challenges many preconceptions about intercultural relations during this era. Following his European sojourn, Abu Talib's remarkable Shi'ite pilgrimage through present day Turkey and Iraq further enhances his meditation on the encounter between Islam and European modernity.

This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and chronologies of the lives and works of Mirza Abu Talib and Charles Stewart. The appendices offer contemporary reviews of the narrative, selections of British orientalist discourse, and examples of proto-ethnographic writing from the period.

Edition details

• Publisher: Broadview Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1551116723
• ISBN 13: 9781551116723
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 458
• Editor: Daniel O'Quinn