Teaching - Università degli Studi della Tuscia

STORIA DEL VIAGGIO E DEI VIAGGIATORI IN MEDIO ORIENTE (objectives)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Travel literature has been an important vehicle of knowledge and documentation of otherwise little-known realities, but it has also contributed to creating stereotyped images of the "Orient" and its inhabitants in the so-called "Western" culture. The course will address the history of travel, discovery and exploration of Kurdistan, the region inhabited by people of Kurdish language and culture spanning across the borders of present-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Armenia. By examining excerpts of travel literature and other documentation produced by European travellers to Kurdish-inhabited lands, we will address problems related to their typology and study. The first part of the course will provide an introductory framework to contextualize further readings, and will briefly deal with the history of early European travels to Kurdistan. In the second part of the course, particular emphasis will be given to the ethnographic descriptions of socio-cultural traits (e.g., habits and customs, nomadism, religious beliefs, female roles) commonly found in European travel literature, with a closer look at the sources written in Italian between the 19th and the 20th centuries, and to women’s writings from the early 20th century.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The treatment of these subjects will offer valuable tools for a review of the European imagery of the Kurds and for understanding the historical dynamics characterizing contemporary Kurdistan. At the end of the course, the students will have developed: 1. (Knowledge and understanding) basic knowledge of the geography of the Kurdish region and its ethnoreligious diversity; ability to analyze travel writings (historical periodization, authors’ ideological background, travel motivations, etc.); 2. (Applied knowledge and understanding) ability to contextualize historical events and processes in the Kurdish area; 3. (Making judgments) flexibility of judgment and critical thinking to spot Eurocentric stereotypes in the representation of Kurdistan and the Kurds; 4. (Communication skills) Ability to discuss the topics addressed, through active and purposeful participation in lectures and laboratory activities; 5. (Learning skills) ability to carry out bibliographic research and retrieve open-source materials for the independent study of the topics of interest.

Code

17415

Language

ITA

Type of certificate

Profit certificate

Credits

Scientific Disciplinary Sector Code

L-OR/14

Contact Hours

Type of Activity

Related or supplementary learning activities

Teacher	Belelli Sara (syllabus) PART I: - Introduction to the historical and anthropic geography of Kurdistan, a borderland (introduction aimed at contextualizing the proposed readings) - Brief chronicle of European travel and travellers in Kurdistan. PART II: - Italian travellers in Kurdistan between the 18th and 19th centuries (reading and commentary on selected passages) - female European travellers in Kurdistan in the 20th century (reading and commentary of selected passages in Italian translation) - Mythologues on the inhabitants of Kurdistan in European travel literature: attitudes, customs, gender roles, religion. (reference books) - Mandatory readings: • Galletti, Mirella. 2001. “Curdi e Kurdistan in opere italiane dal XIII al XX secolo”, in Oriente Moderno Nuova Serie, Anno 20, LXXXI (Quaderni di Oriente Moderno 3. Le relazioni tra Italia e Kurdistan). [Introduction: pp.1-24; Secolo XVIII: pp. 44-55; Secolo XIX: pp. 55-72] • Bernardini, Paolo L., Elisa Bianco. 2018. “L’invenzione del Kurdistan moderno: i missionari domenicani italiani nella regione tra sette e ottocento”, in D. Arecco (ed), Volti della modernità nella cultura europea, Novi Ligure: Città del silenzio. pp. 111-130. • Coletti, Alessandro. 1984. "Maurizio Garzoni, padre della linguistica curda", in Ugo Marazzi (ed.), La conoscenza dell'Asia e dell'Africa in Italia nei secoli XVIII e XIX, Vol. I, Napoli: IUO. pp. 535-541. • Ciafardoni, Paola. 2016. “Oltre gli accomplishments. Donne in viaggio verso Oriente nell’età vittoriana”, in M. G. Biga, L. Mori, F. Pinnock (eds), Donne d’Oriente: voci e volti di donne dal Mediterraneo orientale, Henoch 38/1. pp. 356-365. • Belelli, Sara. 2023. “Le «fiere amazzoni dell’Oriente»: donne kurde e immaginari femminili nella letteratura di viaggio europea (XVIII-XIX sec.)”, in Raccontare i luoghi e la vita degli altri. Viaggiatori e viaggiatrici per le strade del mondo, De Caprio F., Filippone E., Pifferi S. (eds), Città di Castello: LuoghInteriori. [in press] - Selected readings from the following texts: • Sestini, Domenico. 1786. Viaggio da Costantinopoli a Bassora fatto dall'Abate Domenico Sestini Accademico Etrusco, Yverdun. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BfeFCKoYHV4C] • Garzoni, Maurizio. 1787. Grammatica e Vocabolario della Lingua Kurda composti dal P. Maurizio Garzoni De' Predicatori Ex-Missionario Apostolico (Prefazione), Roma: Stamperia della Sacra Congregazione di Propaganda Fide. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_NsupHm92saoC/page/n7/mode/2up] • Campanile, Giuseppe. 1818. Storia della regione del Kurdistan e delle sette di religione ivi esistenti, Napoli: Stamperia de’ Fratelli Fernandes. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6Cgg6UQiZYAC/page/n3/mode/2up] • Osculati, Gaetano. 1844. Coleopteri raccolti nella Persia, Indostan ed Egitto, e note del viaggio. Note d'un viaggio nella Persia e nelle Indie negli anni 1841, 1842: Edizione fuori di commercio, Monza: Corbetta. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_xiK_QPsi5bkC/page/n5/mode/2up] • De Bianchi, Alessandro. 1863. Viaggi in Armenia, Kurdistàn e Lazistàn, Milano: Gareffi. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_X0gi-hWj8qUC] - One optional reading, to be chosen between: • Gertrude Bell, Vicino Oriente: Da Aleppo a Mosul, translated by Cristina Colla and Valentina Pesci, Parma: Nuova Editrice Berti, 2018 (original: Amurath to Amurath, London: Heinemann, 1911) – [In particular, pp.102-190: Baghdad-Mosul-Nota biografica e al testo] • Freya Stark, Le valli degli assassini, translated by Gioia Angiolillo Zannino and Nicoletta Coppini, with a text by Alberto Moravia, Parma: Guanda, 2003 (original: The Valleys of the Assassins, London: Murray, 1934) - [Part I, Luristan: pp. 13-169]
Dates of beginning and end of teaching activities	From to
Delivery mode	Traditional
Attendance	not mandatory
Evaluation methods	Oral exam