The Persian Mirror: Reflections of the Safavid Empire in Early Modern France by Susan Mokhberi (review)

After reading Montesquieu's Lettres persanes (1721), one might ask why Enlightenment philosophers used Persian exoticism to address some internal issues in France. Susan Mokhberi analyzes through a historical lens the significance for French society of the image of Persians and the Persian Empire under the Safavid dynasty. Over the course of six chapters and an epilogue, the author studies a wide range of texts, including pamphlets, letters, travelogues, and prints. Persia was seen as exotic yet familiar in material luxury, civility, grandeur, etc. She wraps it all up under the term savoir vivre. Mokhberi uses the metaphor of a mirror to argue that Franco-Persian relations were based upon the idea that Persia is comparable to France. Therefore, in fictional texts (Amanzolide, Lettres Persanes, etc.), Persia was used as a device to reflect on French issues. As such, Persia was not considered an "Other" for France. Additionally, Mokhberi accounts for the various levels in which the case of Franco-Persian relations should be considered different from the relationship with the other "Oriental" countries. Persia, as a Shiite country, was considered a potential ally against the Sunnite Ottoman Empire. According to her, in France's vision, Persia takes the shape of a mirror reflecting a special kinship, unlike the Ottoman Empire. Yet she point out that, based upon the context, the mirror could become magnified, distorted, etc., and, consequently, the image could vary based on the viewer's personal and professional experience. Mokhberi, then, provides two conflicting portraits of Persia: a poetic land that one could find in literary works versus a land of chaos and corruption found in diplomatic texts. Ultimately, she argues that the reality of Persia was different from these portrayals since each side viewed Persia differently because they had French society's problems in mind. Thus, Persia served as a magnifying mirror for France in such works. Another element Mokhberi studies is the ceremonial difficulties that both sides experienced over diplomatic visits due to misconceptions and misunderstandings. The politicians' competition over grandeur made the relations even more complicated. A representative example is the case of the Persian ambassador, Mohamed Beg, who traveled to France in 1715. His exotic clothes and luxurious lifestyle resembled French ideals and so his visit brought concerns over French luxury and decadence to the surface. Drawing an analogy between the prints and descriptions of Mohamed Beg in the French press of the time (such as Mercure Galant) shows to what extent the portrayal of exotic Persians was in a state of flux and subject to constant renegotiations. Mokhberi shows that, upon the collapse of the Safavid dynasty, France pivoted its attention to a new, similar "Other": the Ottoman Empire. Becoming less absolutist, the Ottomans were salvaging their reputations and, thereby, contributed to distorting the Persian mirror even further. Mokhberi's book is an essential work for scholars in both French and Persian studies who seek to understand the ambivalent and complicated historical relations between Iran and France.