Orientalist Travelers

Orientalist Travelers                              Written by Michael Simpson

1- Alphonse de Lamartine;The Romantic Poet     Lamartine traveled to Palestine, where he drank from the soft, agreeable waters of the Jordan and walked with wonder through places whose names he had often read in the Bible. On his trips to holy places and monasteries, he was highly impressed by the tolerance shown by the Muslim population and their Turkish rulers toward Christianity. “In this respect,” he wrote, “we have greatly calumniated the Muslims. Religious toleration …is profoundly imprinted in their manners.” Monks, he found, were treated with great reverence by both Muslims and Christians, stimulating him to the conclusion that monks were “the happiest, the most respected and the most formidable inhabitants of these regions.Despite his appreciative eye, however, Lamartine could also be condescending. Writing of a beautiful woman, he mentions that “beauty which exists only in the East: a form perfect as that of a Grecian statue; the soul revealed in a look,… and that sweet innocence of expression which is known only among a primitive people.”…. He had found and noted great religious tolerance among Muslims in the territories he visited….

Alphonse de Lamartine

2-W.M. Thackeray;The Victorian Novelist

The trips ashore took in most of the regular tourists haunts – markets, mosques and monuments. Sometimes Thackeray was impressed with local customs. He spoke admiringly of a storyteller in the market at Jaffa who enthralled a crowd of over 100 people, and “delivered his tale with excellent action, voice and volubility.”

W.M. Thackeray.

These quotes come from an article about literature written by  travellers to the Middle East in the 19th century, though they may have enjoyed parts of their travel they were not able to drop their preconcieved notions and stereo types….Its a very interesting read.It ends by saying “Stereotypes of foreign peoples have a disturbingly long life span. For Westerners, there is still very little literature available about the Middle East that looks at Arab life as it appears to Arabs themselves. It is literature with that difficult and different viewpoint, unlike most accounts by travelers today or in the 19th century, that is most likely to contribute to greater understanding of the Arab world in the West.”

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198904/orientalist.travelers.htm

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