It is well known that 18th century enlightenment literature was highly popular not merely within the area which we nowadays refer to as Europe, it was circulated, translated, and adapted on a global scale. Of particular interest for Middle Eastern Literati and Intellectuals were narratives that were placed in an “oriental” setting by their European authors. This talk focusses on a specific example of such adaptation processes: the Persian Version of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s “Le café de Surate” written by the Istanbul based Iranian dissident intellectual Mīrzā Āqā Khān Kermānī (d.1896). Following briefly outlining some of the main objectives and sources of my current research project “TansIranIdea” which analyses Mīrzā Āqā Khān’s writings in the frame of a Global intellectual History of the Enlightenment, I shall discuss the textual and discursive contexts of Mīrzā Āqā Khān’s appropriation of the text and shed some light on the means and methods he used in order to reshape the story in line with his own ideas.

The AnonymClassic research colloquium continues to be ‘digital’ also in the winter term of 2020/21. From October 2020, sessions are held remotely for students and guest; presentations by guests may be recorded. Learning more about digital exchange tools and how to adopt formats intensifying academic exchange: “Open to Experiments” does remain the overall motto. 

Team, students and guests meet virtually every Thursday from 12:15 to 1:45 pm (CET). 

The winter term promotes a number of international guest speakers in alternation with close reading sessions on manuscript editing and presentations of the team’s research topics. Discussion of methodological approaches and digital humanities issues remain key interests of the AnonymClassic research colloquium.

Colleagues, visiting scholars, and students (Arabic studies or related disciplines) are cordially invited to participate. We especially welcome researchers based elsewhere than Freie Universität Berlin to join us for any one (or more) sessions. Please just send a quick note anonymclassic@geschkult.fu-berlin.de for registration and to get the relevant information such as the link to our Cisco WebEx meeting. 

About options of students’ credits and registration in Blackboard, please see here and contact isabel.toral@fu-berlin.de.