Representations of Iranian Music in European Travelogues from the Pre-Safavid Era to the End of the Zand Dynasty: A Stuart Hall Theoretical Framework

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Rezvan Ahrar 1
Narges Zaker Jafari 2
1 Master of Arts in Art Research, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Music Department, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran (Corresponding Author).
10.22034/jcsc.2025.2058854.2817
Abstract
Music has always played a fundamental role in Iranian culture, particularly in court ceremonies, social rituals, and public life. Beyond official sources on the history of music, the descriptions of Iranian music found in European travelogues open new horizons for understanding the musical history of Iran. Relying on Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, the present study seeks to answer how Iranian music has been represented in the eyes of European travel writers from the pre-Safavid period to the end of the Zand era, what has caused the differences in their portrayals of Iranian music, and within which conceptual frameworks these differences can be analyzed. To this end, 21 travelogues by European travelers from these periods have been examined, and the three representational approaches—1) reflective, 2) intentional (referential), and 3) constructionist—have been applied to the analysis of their descriptions. The findings of the study reveal that the travelers’ encounters with Iranian music ranged from superficial observation to direct participation in performances, and this diversity has influenced the nature of their representations. Musical descriptions in these texts are not only expressions of cultural encounters but also reflections of the travelers’ aesthetic perceptions, mental preconceptions, and historical contexts regarding Iranian musical culture. The research adopts a historical–interpretive methodology, aiming to extract and analyze both implicit and explicit meanings embedded in the representation of Iranian music through travel narratives. Data collection has been carried out through library research and note-taking, and data analysis has been conducted using a qualitative approach.

Highlights

 

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o  Angiolelli, Giovanni Maria. (2002). The Venetian travelogues in Iran (Translated by Manouchehr Amiri). Tehran: Kharazmi. [in Persian]

 

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o  Currie, Gabriela. (2021). Close encounters of the musical kind: Persian vignettes in seventeenth-century European travel writings. Itineraria: Rivista Della Società Internazionale per Lo Studio Del Medioevo Latino, pp. 77–105.

 

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o  Pirbabaei, Mohammad Taghi, Nejad Ebrahimi, Ahad & Abizadeh, Saman. (2018). Representing the Meaning of Urban Spaces in Ardabil in the Safavid Era Through Hall’s Cultural Approach. Islamic architectural and urban planning culture, 4(1). DOI: 10.29252/ciauj.4.1.1 [in Persian]

 

o  Pourahmad Jaktaji, Mohammad Taghi. (1976). Descriptive catalogue of the English itineraries in the national library of iran. Tehran: National Library of Iran. [in Persian]

 

o  Rahbar, Ilnaz, Asadi, Hooman, & Gaja, Ramon. (2010). Musical Instruments of the Safavid Period according to Kaempfer and Chardin. Journal of Finr arts:Performing Arts and Music, 2(41), pp. 23–32. [in Persian]

 

o  Sanson, Nicolas. (1967). Travelogue of Sanson: The situation of Iran under Shah Suleiman Safavid (Translated by Taghi Tafazzoli). Tehran: Ziba Press. [in Persian]

 

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Keywords

Subjects

 
 
o  Alizadeh, Abdolrahman, Farghani, Mohammad Mahdi, Zokaei, Saeed, & Mahdizadeh, Mohammad. (2015). Encoding and decoding of TV news; Comparison of TV news on IRIB’s Channel One and BBC Persian. Audiovisual Media Studies Quarterly, 11(26), 171–195. https://doi.org/10.22085/jrtv.2015.38555. [in Persian]
 
o  Angiolelli, Giovanni Maria. (2002). The Venetian travelogues in Iran (Translated by Manouchehr Amiri). Tehran: Kharazmi. [in Persian]
 
o  Baheryni, Shima, & Hosseini, Malek. (2018). Language as Representation of Culture in the theory of Stuart Hall and Ferdinand de Saussure. Knowledge, 79(1), pp. 7–22. [in Persian]
o  Barbaro, Josafa. (2002). The Venetian travelogues in Iran (Translated by Manouchehr Amiri). Tehran: Kharazmi. [in Persian]
 
o  Carreri, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli. (1969). The travelogue of Gemelli Carreri (Translated by Abbas Nakhjavani). Tabriz: East Azerbaijan Department of Culture and Art. [in Persian]
 
o  Chardin, Jean. (1993). Travelogue of Jean Chardin, Vol. 5 (Translated by Eghbal Yaghmaei). Tehran: Toos Publishing. [in Persian]
 
o  Contarini, Ambrogio, & Barbaro, Josafa. (1923). Travels to Tana and Persia (Translated by Lord Stanley of Alderley). London: The Hakluyt Society.
 
o  Currie, Gabriela. (2019). Safavid and Ottoman music through the lens of European travelers. Padua: Musica Nei Racconti Di Viaggio.
 
o  Currie, Gabriela. (2021). Close encounters of the musical kind: Persian vignettes in seventeenth-century European travel writings. Itineraria: Rivista Della Società Internazionale per Lo Studio Del Medioevo Latino, pp. 77–105.
 
o  Curzon, George Nathaniel. (1892). Persia And the Persian Question. Vol II. London: Longmans-Green-And Co.
o  Daneshpajouh, Manouchehr. (2019). A study of travelogues from the Safavid period. Isfahan: University of Isfahan Press. [in Persian]
 
o  Dalsandri, Vincenzo. (2002). The travelogue of Vincenzo, in The Venetian travelogues in Iran (Translated by Manouchehr Amiri). Tehran: Kharazmi. [in Persian]
 
o  De la Valle, Pietro. (1991). Travelogue of Pietro Della Valle – Persian section (Translated by Shoa al-Din Shafa). Tehran: Elm va Farhang. [in Persian]
 
o  Du Mans, Raphael. (1890). Estat de la Perse en 1660. Paris: Publié avec notes et appendice. https://archive.org/details/b29351376
 
o  Figueroa, Don Garcia de Silva. (1984). Travelogue of the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of Shah Abbas I (Translated by Gholamreza Samiei). Tehran: Nashr-e No. [in Persian]
 
o  Flor, Willem. (1977). The first Iranian envoys in the Netherlands. Tehran: Tahouri Library. [in Persian]
 
o  Franklin, William. (1979). Observations made on a journey from Bengal to Persia in 1786–1787 (Translated by Mohsen Javidan). Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [in Persian]
 
o  Gers, Ivan. (1991). The beautiful ambassador (Translated by Ali Asghar Saeedi). Tehran: Tehran Publications. [in Persian]
 
o  Hejazi, Banafsheh. (2022). The history of women. Tehran: Ghasedeh Sara. [in Persian]
 
o  Jones, Harford. (2007). Memoirs of Sir Harford Jones (Translated by Mani Salehi Allameh). Tehran: Nashr-e Sales. [in Persian]
 
o  Kaempfer, Engelbert. (1984). Travelogue of Kaempfer to Iran (Translated by Kykavous Jahandari). Tehran: Kharazmi Publishing. [in Persian]
 
o  Katof, Fedot Afanasievich. (1977). Travelogue of Katof (Translated by Mohammad Sadegh Homayounfar). Tehran: National Library of Iran. [in Persian]
 
o  Keshavarz, Ardeshir. (2004). Kermanshah in the travelogues of explorers. Tehran: Library and Documentation Center of the Iranology Foundation. [in Persian]
 
o  Mohaddes, Alireza. (2022). An analysis of meaning and language in Stuart Hall’s theory of representation. Logical Knowledge, 16, pp. 75–101. [in Persian]
 
 
o  Meysami, Hossein. (2010). Safavid Music. Tehran: Academy of Arts. [in Persian]
 
o  Nemati, MohammadAli, Shahidani, Shahab, & Jahanbakhsh, Savagheb. (2021). Music Throughout the Ṣafavīd Period (Functions, Instruments, and Features). Journal of History and Culture, 53(1), pp. 111–140. [in Persian]
 
o  Niebuhr, Carsten. (1975). Travelogue of Carsten Niebuhr (Translated by Parviz Rajabi). Tehran: Tuka Publications. [in Persian]
 
o  Olearius, Adam. (1984). The travelogue of Adam Olearius (Translated by Ahmad Behpour). Tehran: Ebtakar Cultural & Publishing Organization. [in Persian]
 
o  Otter, Jean. (1984). The travelogue of Jean Otter (Era of Nader Shah) (Translated by Ali Eghbali). Tehran: Javidan Publishing. [in Persian]
 
o  Panahi, Abbas, & Muhammadzadeh, Assadullah. (2016). Expression of Iranian Woman in French Travel Literature from the Eve of the Qajar Period until the Constitutional Revolution based on the Stuart Hall's Reception Theory. Cultural History Studies, 7(27), pp. 1–23. [in Persian]
 
o  Pirbabaei, Mohammad Taghi, Nejad Ebrahimi, Ahad & Abizadeh, Saman. (2018). Representing the Meaning of Urban Spaces in Ardabil in the Safavid Era Through Hall’s Cultural Approach. Islamic architectural and urban planning culture, 4(1). DOI: 10.29252/ciauj.4.1.1 [in Persian]
 
o  Pourahmad Jaktaji, Mohammad Taghi. (1976). Descriptive catalogue of the English itineraries in the national library of iran. Tehran: National Library of Iran. [in Persian]
 
o  Rahbar, Ilnaz, Asadi, Hooman, & Gaja, Ramon. (2010). Musical Instruments of the Safavid Period according to Kaempfer and Chardin. Journal of Finr arts:Performing Arts and Music, 2(41), pp. 23–32. [in Persian]
 
o  Sanson, Nicolas. (1967). Travelogue of Sanson: The situation of Iran under Shah Suleiman Safavid (Translated by Taghi Tafazzoli). Tehran: Ziba Press. [in Persian]
 
o  Shirley, Anthony & Robert Shirley. (1978). The travelogue of the Shirley Brothers (Translated by Avans). Tehran: Manoochehri Publishing. [in Persian]