Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• زهرا گلابی زاده ¹
• Naser Nikoubakht ²

¹ none

² Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Modernity emphasizes rationality, science, and individualism, whereas religion (especially in Islamic societies) is based on tradition, sacred texts, and collectivism. This contrast is evident in contemporary Persian and Arabic travelogues, where Iranian and Arab travelers encounter Western societies and compare religious and modern values. Due to their narrative nature, travelogues reflect the encounter between tradition and modernity. Travel writers, while journeying to the Western world, describe the conflict between the religious lifestyle in Iran and secularism in the West. In travels to China, mosques in a land untouched by Abrahamic religions are examined with a historical-cultural perspective, not merely a religious one. Their writings critique modern Western ethics, evaluating them against Eastern values. The role of religion in shaping art and architecture also serves as a clear indicator for assessing the impact of religion on art. Ethics and religion in modern societies have not escaped the sharp eyes of travelogue writers, to the extent that sometimes the writer points out how, in the West, ethics have become detached from religion and are instead based on modern rationality. In contrast, in Islamic societies, ethics and religion remain deeply intertwined. The reflection of religion in the modern age shows that religion, in confronting modernity, has followed three paths: either it has been pushed to the margins in secular Western societies, redefined in intellectual movements, or placed in opposition to modernity.

Keywords

• Tradition
• Modernity
• Persian Travelogues
• Arabic Travelogues
• Religion
• Ethics