Figures of Oriental Hospitality

This chapter describes the complexity of present-day reflections on hospitality, it takes the example of early Enlightenment writing about Oriental hospitality and the contrast with French inhospitality in the same period. The personal dimension that we experience in our everyday lives both inflects our analysis of the political dimension and is part and parcel of it for many migrants who find a home with kin, friends or acquaintances. The debate in France draws on a multitude of textual strands, including Homeric hospitality, biblical hospitality, pastoral traditions, and of course the mythical political hospitality of the French Revolution. Representations of Oriental hospitality are typically bipolar: they focus on either simple nomadic and rural practices or luxurious entertainment. The relative mobility or immobility of different nations or different historical periods is a complex question. The chapter describes some of Chardin's accounts of caravanserais, focusing on three points he emphasizes: mobility, community and simplicity

Archaeology · Hospitality · Tourism · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Islamic Studies and History