Le voyage d’Al-Mawsilî : le premier Arabe à se rendre sur le continent Américain (1675-1683)

Abstract

Elias Al-Mawsili, a Chaldean cleric from Baghdad, traveled to the American continent and based there from 1675 to 1683. The lack of accounts of non-Western travelers to the American continent has attracted our attention to the underlying incentives of his journeys. His travel narrative is the oldest known Arabic manuscript of the New World. This research focuses on how the account of this Arab traveler differs from Western representations and foregrounds. It also features the approach on how Al-Mawsili portrays the Amerindian and the Spanish settlers. This draft traces Al-Mawsili's travels from Baghdad to Europe and then his arrival to America. The study approaches his descriptions of large parts of the south to the center of the American continent and emphasizes themes as the hunt of gold, the avarice of the Spaniards, the perils and the adventure in America. In addition, the article considers the candidness of Al-Mawsili's observations by highlighting the means used in his accounts, especially informative, descriptive, and anecdotal. This paper discusses the reasons about why this narrative has been forgotten for many years.

Keywords

• fiction
• New World
• arab traveler
• wonder
• travel narrative