Imagology of Iranians of Safavid era through the study on Persian Proverbs and Idioms in Raphael Du Mans' Travelogue

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Farzaneh Saniei
• EHSAN GHABOOL

Language and Persian Literature Department, FUM

10.22067/rltf.2023.80372.1071

Abstract

 Rafael Du Mans is one of the first Frenchmen who traveled to Iran during the Safavid era and wrote the results of his long-term stay in Isfahan in his work entitled Iran's Situation in 1660 in French. This work became the source of many images of Iranians in other French travelogues; so it is necessary to explore the images of Iranians from various points of view. This study identified and classified the Persian proverbs and idioms mentioned by Du Mans in his work, and based on imagology (that studies the images of one nation in the literary works of another nation) and by referring to historical sources and examining intertextual signs, the reasons for their emergence and spread among Iranians were explained, to know more about the people and society of Safavid Iran, on the one hand, and to clarify Du Mans’ attitude towards Iranians on the other hand. Accordingly, a total number of 6 proverbs and 11 idioms in Persian were identified in Du Mans’ travelogue consisting of 12 direct and 5 indirect imaging. Out of 17 proverbs and idioms, 12 are negative which expresses Du Mans’ negative attitude towards Iranians. The reasons for this view can first be traced to the purpose of Du Man's trip and his European arrogance. Moreover, after classifying the genesis of proverbs and idioms, it was found that most of them have a cultural background that expresses the priority of this issue for the author. 

Keywords

• Raphael Du Mans
• travelogue
• Safavid era
• proverbs
• imagology

Main Subjects

• french literature

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