“SEDUCED BY THE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE”. ENGELBERT KAEMPFER’S SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES IN SAFAVID PERSIA (1683-1688)“求知慾的引誘”－恩格爾伯特‧肯普費於波斯薩非的科學活動 (1683-1688)
Elio Brancaforte's article analyzes Engelbert Kaempfer's scientific activities during his period in the Safavid Empire (1683–1688), arguing that his observational practice—informed by European training in medicine, natural sciences, history, and languages—constituted a method of knowledge production...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
January 2007
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40021/3726 |
| Summary: | Elio Brancaforte's article analyzes Engelbert Kaempfer's scientific activities during his period in the Safavid Empire (1683–1688), arguing that his observational practice—informed by European training in medicine, natural sciences, history, and languages—constituted a method of knowledge production that was not limited to the reissue of earlier accounts. Proceeding from the principle that Kaempfer "confines himself to what is new or insufficiently recorded," the study contextualizes his integration into a Swedish diplomatic mission and demonstrates how, despite limited linguistic acquisition, he resorted to sketches, corrections of earlier descriptions, and systematic collections on flora, fauna, and the human world, encompassing areas such as cartography, botany, and ethnography.
Methodologically, the investigation articulates a critical reading of Kaempferian texts with the reconstruction of his itinerary and working conditions in Persian territory, evidencing the passage from observations gathered in Persia to the author's subsequent interests, particularly in the studies that would culminate in Japan (1683–1693). It concludes that the "thirst for knowledge" expressed in the traveler's own self-justification translates into a culture of archival practice and empirical verification, which contributed to reorienting the European mode of knowing the "Asian world." |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |