ABSTRACT
Available in translation as a seminal figure in the formation of European racist ideology, or as a minor French author of eastern tales, Comte de Gobineau’s vital if idiosyncratic contribution to European Orientalism, though well known to experts in the field, could up till now only be accessed by an English reader through secondary sources. The present translation of sizeable extracts from Gobineau’s two most important oriental writings, Trois ans en Asie, and Les Religions et Philosophies dans L’Asie centrale, should partially rectify this situation. The aim of the introduction is to treat Gobineau’s ideas and observations on the East – which in practice largely concern Persia – both within the context of their own time, and in the light of contemporary perspectives. As a literary figure his abiding impact has been as a writer of historical narratives, fictional and non-fictional. In spite of the fact that his racial theories were largely ignored in his lifetime, and his Orientalist pretensions dismissed as amateur and unscientific, he passed on to his contemporaries several key narratives encoding highly personal readings of Persia’s distant and more recent past. French and German Orientalists regarded Gobineau’s pronouncements, drawn from his deciphering of the cuneiform script of ancient Mesopotamia according to the occult interpretations of native informants, with disdainful silence. Nevertheless, according to Curzon, himself a redoubtable traveller and connoisseur of travel writing, the best works on the East were those written by Gobineau.1 To be more specific, his writings on oriental topics proved very influential in two areas: first, as an interpretative narrative of the history and beliefs of the Shi‘ih sect of Islam influenced by national/racial ideas; second, his articulation of the history, beliefs and practices of Iranian religious sects and movements which he considered antithetical to Shi‘ism. Particular attention will be paid to the impact these narratives had on British and French Orientalists and the way they helped shape their views on the East, as well as their continuing relevance to debates centered on Islam and modernity which are still very much with us today.
