Alternative Orientalism
Mohammad Meerzaei
Journal of the Council for Research on Religion April 24, 2026 DOI: 10.26443/jcreor.v7i1.205 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Orientalism Islam Scholarship Narrative Secularity Perspective graphical Hermeneutics Aesthetics Epistemology Impermanence Gender studies Participant observation Middle east |
| Key points | Argues that Henry Corbin's construction of 'Iranian Islam' ultimately constitutes a Eurocentric account that recasts the Orient as a repository of an alternative future and a projection of the West's own lost past. |
Abstract
Henry Corbin (1903–1978), through his extensive contributions to Islamic and Iranian studies, introduced a paradigm shift in modern Western scholarship on Iran and Islam. As a counternarrative to classical Orientalism’s relegation of Islamic societies, Corbin’s construction of “Iranian Islam” generated a comprehensive body of knowledge that valorized Iran as a model for the West. He depicted Iran as an exceptionally continuous tradition that preserved mystical and philosophical practices from pre-Islamic times, assimilated foreign influences, and resisted the nihilism of modernity. This sophisticated image of Iran as uniquely spiritual and intellectual was celebrated by makers of Iranian nationalism. Yet, I argue that Corbin’s narrative of Iranian religious history ultimately constitutes another Eurocentric account of the Orient. Instead of disparaging the “Orient” to elevate the West, Corbin recast the Orient as the repository of an alternative future – a projection of the West’s own lost past to which it might return.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |