Russian women in the middle of the XIXth century in al-Tantawi’s “Description of Russia”

Abstract

The article is devoted to al-Tantawi’s perception of Russian women of the middle of the XIXth century. Al-Tantawi, an Egyptian sheikh, a scholar and a traveller, tells how the status of women changed in Russia before Peter the Great in his “Description of Russia” (1850). The research provides an analysis of fragments of the handwritten text in translation by the article’s author. Al-Tantawi assesses the significance of Peter’s reforms on changing the social status of women, attitudes to them in society and family. He is interested in social manners, problems of women’s education, changing behavior models, for instance, women’s behavior in public places such as a ball or a restaurant as well as the role of women in the family and home life, the attitude of men to women in a variety of situations. The article pays attention to the poetic origin in the Arab observer’s attitude to Russian women. Al-Tantawi’s view is largely determined by the nature of his scholarship, the Arab-Muslim culture of everyday life and the gender aspect of the Egyptian society. Some fragments from the books of European and Russian travellers to Egypt are drawn in the article for the comparative analysis. The views of Europeans on Russian women and the perception of women’s emancipation in France are considered by al-Tantawi’s compatriots and contemporaries. Different views of researchers on women in the Islamic world and in Russia are presented.

Keywords:

gender studies, emancipation, cross-cultural aspect of social status, women’s education, travel notes