ブックタイトル東北大学　アニュアルレビュー2015(英語版)

概要

東北大学　アニュアルレビュー2015(英語版)

Takashi KurodaResearch HighlightThe Wonders of Vilayet on his return to India. In it, heexpressed his amazement at the streetlamps in London,the paved roads, the displays at the British Museum, theThe Urdu translation of The Wonders of Vilayet:Being the Memoir, Originally in Persian, of a Visitto France and Britain, by Mirza I’tesamuddin.model of the solar system at Oxford University and popu-Muslims’Encounter with Modernitylar entertainments such as the opera, theater and circus.British women also piqued his curiosity, contrasting asProfessor Takashi Kuroda explores the changing image of Islamthey did with the Islamic customs he knew.and the early encounters of Islamic intellectuals with western societies.“the recent trend of mutually judging each otherin stereotypes has been very counterproductiveand has led to a cycle of suspicion and antagonism.”The Agra Fort, also referred to as the“Red Fort.”The impressive structure brings to life the bygone days of the 16 th century and the Mughal Dynasty in its prime.Yet despite his generally positive feelings, he wassimultaneously critical of some of the social values, particularlythe attitudes towards promiscuity and self-indulgence.According to Kuroda, both the admiration and distastefor the cultural elements I‘tesamuddin experiencedin Europe is an important feature of his work, and possiblyreflects a similar conflict of values experienced by otherMuslim intellectuals at that time.Thoughts on the frameworkof Western societyWest in the late 18 th through early 19 th centuries. It suggestsIslam’s adaptability and acceptance towards otherways of life in a fast changing world.Which is why, Kuroda says,“the recent trend ofmutually judging each other in stereotypes has been verycounterproductive and has led to a cycle of suspicion andantagonism.”Peaceful coexistence, he says, is possible with theunderstanding that both Muslim and non-Muslim societiesare constantly evolving and go through many changesthroughout history.Thirty years ago, when Professor Takashi Kuroda firstbegan teaching the fundamentals of Islam in a universitygeneral education course, the majority of his studentsassociated Islam with the religion and culture of an exotic,distant place. Other students made the connection to oil,remembering when Japan was starved for energy resourcesand dependent on the Arab region.However, as the 20 th century turned into the 21 st ,Kuroda noticed that the students’image of Islam as anexotic culture in an oil-rich region started to change.The World Trade Center attacks in New York on September11, 2011, coupled with the war in Afghanistan, theIraq War and the escalation of terror perpetrated by extremistgroups, created a climate where people began associatingIslam with violence, anti-Westernism and anti-modernity.This association, says Kuroda, is unfortunate andlargely inaccurate.“There are 1.6 billion followers of Islamtoday, representing a quarter of the world’s population.Over 99% of Muslims are ordinary, peaceful citizens withno connection to terrorism or violence.”Muslim intellectualsencounter the WestIndia was one of the first places where Muslim intellectualsencountered the West. The relationship betweenIndia and its colonial ruler Britain was not an equal one.And as such, the flow of people between them was alsoasymmetric. Over the years, the steady flow of British EastIndia Company staff, military personnel, entrepreneurs,scholars and missionaries into India had produced volumesof journals and travelogues.But, says Kuroda, among the Muslim civil servantsand members of the literati who travelled to Europe, onlyabout half a dozen are known to have written about theirobservations and experiences there. Their works, mostlywritten in Farsi, are therefore interesting to academicssuch as Kuroda, because they reflect how Muslim intellectualsat that time viewed foreign cultures and habits.Mirza I‘tesamuddin, who had accompanied a captainof the East India Company Army to Britain in 1766, wroteThirty years later, in 1799, Mirza Abu Taleb Khan,a Muslim scholar-bureaucrat, accompanied an officer ofthe East India Company to England. Dubbed the“PersianPrince”for his Iranian lineage, he spent two and a halfyears in England and made a splash in London society. Hewas acquainted with influential aristocrats, politicians andeven royalty.On returning to India, he authored The Travels ofMirza Abu Taleb Khan, a travelogue that included detailedobservations of the social structures and political systemsof English society. He pointed out the strengths of theBritish economy coming out of the industrial revolution,and was impressed by the fundamental liberties enjoyedby society. He noted how freedom of speech and expression,for example, allowed for comments and satireagainst poor leadership and misgovernment.However, he also pointed out that England had astratified society with a status gap twice as wide as thatin India. Abu Taleb, writing in Farsi, urged Muslims to beproud of their religion and culture.According to Kuroda, this pattern appears consistentamong Muslim intellectuals who encountered theTakashi Kuroda is a professor at the GraduateSchool of International Cultural Studies. His fieldof research focuses on the Islamic world andIranian modern history.Potrait ofMirza Abu Taleb KhanTohoku University ANNUAL REVIEW 2015page: 20Tohoku University ANNUAL REVIEW 2015page: 21