Expression of Iranian Woman in French Travel Literature from the Eve of the Qajar Period until the Constitutional Revolution based on the Stuart Hall's Reception Theory

The issue of women have special importance in French travel literature of Qajar period. As urban women in Iran had different function from rural women, this issue had a serious reflection on these travel literatures. The aim of this research is to answer this question in a descriptive – analytical method based on Stuart Hall’s “Reception Theory” that what was the attitude of French travelers towards the Iranian women during Qajar Period? For answering this question two general attitudes can be deducted: Laudatory attitude and Orientalism attitude towards Iranian women. The first attitude is rather positive and the second is almost negative. Other findings of this research show that although French travelers had praised the Iranian women from various aspects and their description were due to their limitation for studying the women, but they were not successful in representation of these components.