Alternative Orientalism

Henry Corbin transformed Western scholarship on Iran and Islam by constructing a counternarrative to classical Orientalism, portraying Iran as a uniquely continuous tradition that preserved mystical and philosophical practices from pre-Islamic times, assimilated foreign influences, and resisted modern nihilism. This image of Iran as exceptionally spiritual and intellectual was embraced by Iranian nationalists. However, the author argues that Corbin's narrative is ultimately another Eurocentric account: rather than disparaging the Orient to elevate the West, Corbin recast it as a repository of an alternative future—a projection of the West's own lost past to which it might return.

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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.