Thesis

Rewriting Persia British women’s travel writing and representations of Iran in the interwar period

Creator
Rights statement
Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2025
Thesis identifier
  • T17484
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202375438
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This thesis examines how three British women—Vita Sackville-West, Elizabeth Ness, and O.A. Merritt-Hawkes—represented Iran in their travel writing during the interwar period. Though Iran was never formally colonised, it remained deeply embedded in Britain’s imperial imagination, making it a compelling site for both projection and critique. The narratives these women produced reflect a complex mix of admiration, Orientalist framing, and intellectual ambition. While they often reinforced colonial hierarchies, their accounts also show moments of ambivalence, respect, and disruption, especially as they encountered Iran’s modernisation under Reza Shah. Using postcolonial theory and travel writing scholarship, this thesis argues that these women did not simply echo dominant imperial narratives but also complicated them. Sackville-West’s romanticism, Ness’s scientific framing, and Merritt-Hawkes’ educational focus offer distinct yet intersecting portrayals of Iran that expose how gender and cultural authority were negotiated through travel. Their writing captures the tension between a British nostalgia for a mythic “Persia” and the lived realities of a nation actively shaping its own modern identity. By situating these accounts within the broader context of interwar geopolitics, Orientalist discourse, and shifting roles for women, this study highlights the cultural influence of British women travellers. It shows how their work contributed to—and at times unsettled—imperial perceptions of Iran, offering insight into the entangled dynamics of empire, identity, and cross-cultural encounter.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Mahn, Churnjeet
Resource Type
DOI
Embargo Note
  • This thesis is permanently restricted to Strathclyde users only.

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