Representation of Shiite Culture and Art in Benjamin's Travelogue

A travelogue is, indeed, a written collection of observations and reports of a traveller based on his own views and opinions on social phenomena as well as the economic and political conditions of a society, a society he may have had but a temporary short access to. The details not much important for one’s contemporary historians may be of great importance for later historians because of the role these details have in reconstructing the political, economic, social and cultural conditions of that era. Thus, the part of a travelogue dealing with the traveller’s direct observations may be considered as a historical travel.The status of the Shiism and the Shiites has not been properly investigated yet. Thus, in view of this need and the importance of the information in these travelogues about the Shiites, they may be regarded as the first base for the orientalists to study the Shiites. Here, we have explored and studied a travelogue with its approach to study of Shiism. Although Shiite culture and art are not apart from Islamic culture and art, they have had special spiritual identity and images in different eras of Shiites’ political and cultural power. In the present article, we seek to focus on various aspects of Shiism and Shiites in Benjamin’s travelogue to call the authorities in this realm to more scrutiny and reflection.