British Lady-Travellers in the Land of the Lion and the Sun: Gender and Ideology in Victorian Orientalism

The seminar will look at travel narratives published by female travellers to Persia in the mid- and late nineteenth century, in order to build a reflection on the most salient features of Victorian Orientalism, buttressed by the analyses and concepts of contemporary Postcolonial Studies. Although Persia was never part of the British Empire, it was a key element in the “Great Game” played by British diplomats in Central Asia—a covert strategy of political influence and economic incursions. Tackling the asymmetrical relationships between the two countries from the oblique/"marginal" point of view of female travellers should allow us to better unveil the subjective and ideological warping of perspectives in the Western reception and interpretation of Eastern countries.