The Critical-Cognitive Study of Metaphorization of the Other in Masir-e Talebi and Hayrat Nameh Travelogues

Persian travelogues of the Qajar period are amongst the first encounters of Iranians with the-West-as-the-Other and due to this various forms of othering of the Europe can be recognized in them. Since metaphor is one of the principal devices in the process of othering, the main aim of this paper is to provide a critical-cognitive study of metaphorization of the "the West as the Other" in two early instances of Persian travel account in such an era. The under-study travelogues in this research are Masir-e Talebi and Hayrat Nameh. The main approach used in this study is Critical Metaphor Analysis which provides the ground for offering a critical-cognitive analysis of the role metaphor plays in different texts and discourses. Exploring these two travel books, it is found out that a number of conceptual metaphors have been used in them for representing the West which offer a hyperbolic, idealized and heaven-like image of Europe to the readers. The combination of these conceptual metaphors finally leads to the formation of an iconographic frame of reference or megametaphor which suggests a coherent integrated picture of Europe. Such metaphors metaphorize that place as the Heaven or utopia which could be used as a model for Iranian society in that time.