International Society for Iranian Studies Iranian Studies in France Author(s): Bernard Hourcade Source: Iranian Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2/4, Iranian Studies in Europe and Japan (1987), pp. 1-51 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310580 . Accessed: 27/02/2014 00:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. International Society for Iranian Studies and Taylor & Francis, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Iranian Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 132.204.3.57 on Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:15:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BernardHourcade Iranian Studies in France I. The State, University Traditions and Awareness of the "IranianWorld" in France There is, in France, a pronouncedawareness of an "Iranian world"that can be identifiedin termsof cultural,linguistic, ethnic (Aryan peoples) or geographic (highlands, cold winters) characteristicscommon to the civilizationsof all Iranian-speaking peoples living in Afghanistan, Iran, Kurdistanor south central USSR, in particular,Tajikistan. This "world"stands in contrastto the Arab, Indian and Turkishones. The notion of a Middle East extending from Casablancato Kabul does not exist in French. Newspapersusually refer to the Moslemlands to the southand east of the Mediterraneanas the "Arabworld," as if Turkish- and Persian-speakingpeoples were peripheral minorities therein. Owing to its colonial and military heritage, France has long given special importanceto the Maghrib (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria),the Near East (Lebanonand Syria,in particular)and, as a resultof the Napoleoniccampaigns and Champollion's expeditions, Egypt.In contrast,France has neverplayed a major,lasting political role in Iranor Afghanistan.As a consequence,Iranian Studies were for a long time classified under Arab Studies, which, by comparison,benefited from the favorsof successivegovernments. Not being in favor with politicalauthorities did, however,make it all the easier to develop culturalrelations between France and Persia duringthe past century.Whereas the English obtainedthe monopoly over petroleum,and the Belgians over customs, France received the monopolyof archeologicalexcavations! Thus may be Iranian Studies, VolumeXX, Numbers2-4 (1987) This content downloaded from 132.204.3.57 on Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:15:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 2 Hourcade understood the concentration of French scholarship upon the originalidentity of the Iranian--Aryan,or Indo-Iranian--peoplesand the origins of their culture. Thus may, in turn, be explained the slight developmentof historicalor social studies concerningthe modem period. The prioritythus given to pre-Islamiclanguages, literature,history and artsleft but a secondaryplace for other,more contemporaryaspects of Iranianculture, aspects that were of greater interest to scholars from countries with sustained economic, commercial,and political relations with the Persiankingdonm In orderto markthe identityof the Iraniancivilization in contrast with the Semitic or Turkishones, emphasis has often, in France, been placed upon the Aryancharacter of the Iranianpeoples. It was not by chancethat Montesqwueu chose a Persianinstead of a Turkor an Indianto symbolizethe independentforeigner. Certain nineteenth century authors, for instance de Gobineau (1859) and Renan, ideologically used this characterto support their belief in the superiorityof Aryansover Semites. As Keddie (1972) has shown, Renanattributed the intellectualqualities of Jamalad-Din al-Afghani to his being Aryan,and not Arab.Of course,scholars specializing in Aryanculture and Indo-Iraniancivilizations pursued their inquiries at a very differentlevel. In France,they form a venerablelineage thatgoes backto Anquetil-Duperronwho, in the eighteenthcentury, "discovered"the Avesta, and comes up to Dumezilwho, beforehis deathin 1986, revealedto us the mythologiesof the Indo-European peoples. Anotherpillar of IranianStudies in France,for reasonsthat the readermay now understand,is archeology.From 1894 to 1931, the French Ministry of Public Education had the monopoly on archeologicalexcavations in Persia. In charge of uncoveringthe past, of unearthingthe splendors of the pre-Islamicera, French archeologists thus helped embellish the image of a prestigeous Iraniancivilization distinct from the Muslim, and mostly Arab, Middle East. In 1921, France obtained a monopoly over archeologicaloperations in Afghanistan,too, whereresearch would follow behindthat in Iran. The Frenchgovernment provided decisive supportby settingup permanentresearch centers in Afghanistanand Iran. The Ministryof PublicEducation was at the originof de Morgan'sscientific mission to Persia in the 1890s; the same holds true for the French archeologicaldelegations in Iranand Afghanistan. After the Second World War, French culturaland scientific activities abroadwere transferredto the Office of CulturalRelations under the Ministryof This content downloaded from 132.204.3.57 on Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:15:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Iranian Studies in France 3 Foreign Affairs, which, in 1947, founded the French-Iranian Institutein Tehran.These cultural initiatives were the only "political" response--and quite limited at that--to the intense military and commercial involvement of the British and Americans in Iran. Isolated and insufficiently backed up by commercialor political relations, these culturalcenters led a precariousexistence. Their activities often dependedupon energeticand respecteddirectors-- Jacques de Morgan, Roman Ghirshman,Gustave Schlumberger, and HenryCorbin--who, from a scientificpoint of view, were quite independent.In fact, the stakesin IranianStudies were not as high as in disciplines concentratingon the Arab Near East or North Africa,where the Frenchgovernment was muchmore involved. Nowadays, however, Iranian Studies in France, centered in Paris, have never been as sound and diverse--despitethe current politicalcrises in Iranand Afghanistan. Approximately forty persons are employed full-time in seven teams at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS), at the National Instituteof Oriental Languages,at the Univesity of Paris III, at a researchinstitute in Iran,and on threejournals, Studia Iranica,Abstracta Iranica and Les Cahiers de la DAFI. How has such an initially dire situation becomeso full of promise?A chronologicalapproach will be used to examne this development. I. Before WorldWar II: Diplomats,Travelers, Archeologists and the FoundingFathers Although eighteenth century French philosophers often commentedupon Persia, their knowledge of this land was slight indeed (Francis Richard 1987). When Anquetil Duperron,after studying the Pahlavi language, publishedpasages of the Avesta, Voltairewas, it is said, disappointed.La Fontainedid not drawthe inspirationfor what he wrote about Persiain the Fables from the first French printed translationof parts of Sa'di's Golestan by Andredu Ryer de Malezairin 1634, nor fromTavernier's (1676) or Chardin's(1686) traveltales. Not many Frenchembassies or travelersmade the tripto Persia before the nineteenthcentury (Chaybani1971). The first serious mission was undertakenby GeneralGardane, whom Napoleonsent to seek supportagainst Russia and Great Britain (de Voogd, 1981). Although the Treatyof Tilsit in 1807 ended Frenchambitions in Persia,Gardane's mission did open the Qajarkingdom to relations in certain fields, notably education.Besides the CapuchinFriars who had been operatingthere since the seventeenthcentury, the This content downloaded from 132.204.3.57 on Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:15:38 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 4 Hourcade Lazarist Order was permittedto open French-speakingschools, particularlyin Kurdistan(Chevalier 1985) and amongthe Assyro- Chaldeans (de Maurois, 1978); and the French branch of the Alliance Israglite Universelle was later authorizedto do likewise in Jewishcommunities Comprehensiveknowledge about the Persianlanguage initially advancedthanks to religious orders and diplomats.Augustinians from Indiain 1603, and Carmelitesand Capuchinsfrom Francein 1628 travelledto Isfahan.They foundedthere several convents and learned and taught Persian. Raphael du Mans was the Shah's translator,and Davud Said Esfahani Louis XIII's. Jean-Fran9ois Petis de la Croixzz, teacher of Persian in the Royal College, translatedmany famouspersian texts, andremained famous for his translationof One Thousandand One Nights. From that period onward French diplomats had to translate Persiandocuments coming from Persia or India,so in 1669 Colbert, minister under Louis XIV, set up the Youth Language School (Ecole des Jeunes de Langues) to initiate embassy secretariesin Orientallanguages. In 1795, the Conventioncreated out of this legacy the National School of Living OrientalLanguages (Ecole Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes, in short "Langues 0"') the cornerstoneof "Oriental"Studies in France.Arabic, Turkish and Persianwere basic