Going native: Islam and alterity in Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, by Richard Francis Burton

• Grant number: 14/26299-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: July 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Samira Adel Osman
• Grantee: Paula Carolina de Andrade Carvalho
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project will examine the dichotomy between the ideas of "civilization" - represented by the British imperialism - and "barbarity" - that appears in this study in the form of the representation of Islam. The object of study is the book "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah", by Richard Francis Burton (1855-57). In this narrative, Islam and other cultural characteristics described as "oriental" work as ways for Burton to question the allegedly universal values of the British civilization. However, at the same time, he tends to reaffirm Britains pioneering role in colonialism. Thus, this project will investigate the representation of this dichotomy in the book. (AU)