aMaster of English Language and Literature, Lorestan State University, Khoramabad, Iran
bPhd of English Language and Literature, Lorestan State University, Khoramabad, Iran
Online published on 6 September, 2014.
One of the significant genres of English literature is travel writing. Jason Elliot's Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran (2006) is a travelogue written about Persia which in documenting the history, civilization, and culture of Persians follows a diffrent approach. In Mirros of the Unseen, architecture (as signs) plays a significant role through which deflating the dominnat discourse about the East i.e., Orientalsim and coming to know Self and the Other becomes possible. Here, in dealing with the signs Elliot acts as a Barthesian critic, and decodes the signs based on his understanding. In this way, he comes to know the East genuinely resisting the the dominant discourse about the East. He makes lots of personal discoveries about the East and studies the Eastern heritage to the West making a bridge between Eastern and Western civilization. Therefore, he makes a turning point in the history of travel writing of the East.
Travel Writing, Architecture, Persia, Barthes
