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Titre
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En
The Eastern Malady: Turkish Manners
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Fr
Le mal d'Orient : mœurs turques
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Type
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Book
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Identifiant
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ark:/12148/bpt6k9373195
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Auteur.e.s
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Chesnel, Eugène (pseud. Kesnin-Bey)
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Résumé
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En
Le Mal d'Orient: Mœurs turques (1887) by Eugène Chesnel (writing under the pseudonym Kesnin-Bey) is a travelogue and sociological portrait of Constantinople and its diverse Muslim communities. The section most relevant to ta'zieh appears in Chapter VIII, devoted to the Persian colony in Constantinople.
Chesnel describes the Persian community of some 10,000–12,000 residents centered around the Validé Han, a vast commercial compound. He uses the occasion of the Muharram festival to introduce ta'zieh to his French readership, providing one of the more detailed eyewitness accounts of the ceremony in a Western travel text. After recounting the historical background of the martyrdom of Ali, Husayn, and Hassan at Karbala, he notes that in certain parts of Persia, tazieh are organized — which he defines as a kind of religious mystery play featuring Ali, Husayn, Hassan, their wives, and children. He situates ta'zieh within the broader Shia theological framework, noting that for many Shia sects Ali is placed on the same level as Muhammad.
The bulk of the chapter is an extended eyewitness description of the Muharram ceremony at the Validé Han: the ten days of preparatory prayers, the elaborate lighting of the courtyard with Venetian crystal chandeliers, the arrival of European diplomats and their wives, the processions, the descending musical phrase played on clarinets and cymbales, and the collective weeping of the Persian crowd at the memory of Karbala. The account is written from the perspective of a European observer and carries an orientalist tone throughout, but it constitutes a valuable primary document on how ta'zieh and Muharram rituals were perceived and described in late nineteenth-century Western travel writing.
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Fr
Le Mal d'Orient (1887) d'Eugène Chesnel (sous le pseudonyme Kesnin-Bey) est un récit de voyage et portrait sociologique de Constantinople et de ses communautés musulmanes. La section la plus pertinente pour le ta'zieh figure au chapitre VIII, consacré à la colonie persane de Constantinople (10 000 à 12 000 résidents, centrés autour du Validé Han). Chesnel y présente le ta'zieh à son lectorat français comme une sorte de mystère religieux mettant en scène Ali, Husayn, Hassan, leurs épouses et enfants. Il fournit un témoignage oculaire détaillé des cérémonies de Muharram au Validé Han : dix jours de prières préparatoires, illumination de la cour par des lustres en cristal de Venise, arrivée de diplomates européens, processions, phrase musicale descendante jouée sur des clarinettes et cymbales, et pleurs collectifs de la foule persane au souvenir de Karbala. Rédigé du point de vue d'un observateur européen à tonalité orientaliste, ce texte constitue un document primaire précieux sur la perception du ta'zieh dans la littérature de voyage occidentale de la fin du XIXe siècle.
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Edition
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C. Marpon et E. Flammarion
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Paris
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Date
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1887
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Langue
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Fr
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Citation bibliographique
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Chesnel, Eugène [Kesnin-Bey]. Le Mal d'Orient : mœurs turques. Paris: C. Marpon et E. Flammarion, 1887. 373 pp.
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Droits
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Public domain