Introduction -- Capturing cultural encounter -- The literature of encounter -- Threat and the Near East -- The East Indies : le jardin de l'Orient -- Aventures in the Orient -- Conclusion
Summary
Travel narratives were the principal source of knowledge about the lands of the Near East and the Indian Ocean Basin in 17th-century France. Claiming the authority of first-hand observation, they paradoxically rely for their legitimization on the tropes of an established literary tradition. The status of these texts remained ambiguous, not least because of their anecdotal depictions of great riches, brutality or sexual promise. Drawing on the insights of post-colonial scholarship, this study tackles a question given scant attention in previous work and suggests that beyond the hazy representat
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 273)-294) and index