Orientalism in Early Modern France: Eurasian Trade, Exoticism, and the Ancien Rgime

(Hardback)

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Description

Francis I's ties with the Ottoman Empire marked the birth of court-sponsored Orientalism in France. Under Louis XIV, French society was transformed by cross-cultural contacts with the Ottomans, India, Persia, China, Siam and the Americas. The consumption of silk, cotton cloth, spices, coffee, tea, china, gems, flowers and other luxury goods transformed daily life and gave rise to a new discourse about the 'Orient' which in turn shaped ideas about science, economy and politics, and against absolutist monarchy. An original account of the ancient regime, this book highlights France's use of the exotic and analyzes French discourse about Islam and the 'Orient'.

Reviews

McCabe has produced an excellent reference work for the researcher in quest of detailed factual information about myriad aspects of early modern France's intellectual, cultural, and economic relations with the Orient. An ambitiously wide-ranging book with exceptionally interesting content. * Julia Landweber, Montclair State University, for H-France Review *
This erudite book has much of interest to a broad range of scholars * F. J. Baumgartner (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) - CHOICE Magazine *
There is much to recommend from this work, for example McCabe's bringing together of early travelogues with a focus on their attempts at providing reliable information on a broad variety of topics, and the use made of these travelogues by recent scholars, many of whom she cites to further her own arguments. -- Derek Visser, Ursinus College * The French Review *

Author Bio

Ina Baghdiantz McCabe is Darakjian Jafarian Professor of History, Tufts University