Othering and Ideology in Travel Writing
Ayman S. Elbarbary
Ohio University
Ayman.saad.acu@gmail.com

Abstract
Travel writing is one of the ways to communicate and discover other cultures. It essentially introduces
the “Other'' and their culture in the form of literary texts. My research is a stylistic analysis of Resala (922) byAhmad Ibn Fadlan Fadlan and Travels in Arabia (1889) by Bayard Taylor. The purpose of the research is to
examine how two main concepts, “othering” and “ideology” are linguistically manifested in both texts. The
research begins with close readings of the texts to identify major content themes: death, sex, food, etc.
Alongside this content analysis of said themes, instances of sense impressions: sight, smell, sound, touch, andtaste will also be recorded. Special attention is paid to the source of these sense impressions and the language
used to describe them. Both the content themes and the sense impressions are analyzed for instantiations ofothering and ideology. Othering is marked by the use of pronouns and nominalizations and the use of figurative
language. In the case of Ibn Fadlan, key instantiations of language used in the translated text will be comparedto the original Arabic text. The initial results show that Ibn Fadlan uses his linguistic choices, sensory
perceptions, and salience to represent the “Other” negatively.

Keywords
Cultural communication-Arabian Peninsula- Eastern Europe- Othering- Ideology

1Introduction

Travel writing at its core introduces the reader to the "Other" and their culture via a broad range of styles,
including literary texts, as is the case for Ahmed ibn Fadlan’s Resala (922) and Bayard Taylor in Travels in
Arabia (1889). The primary concern of this research is examining how the concepts of othering and ideology
are linguistically manifested in the travel writing of Ibn Fadlan’s Resala and Taylor’s Travels in Arabia,
focusing specifically on how the writers negatively represent the "Other" and their culture. In this sense, travel
writing serves as a mediator between the reader and the foreigners, lands, and cultures (often exotic) that thewriter has chosen to visit and chronicle. Beyond this general and underlying definition of travel writing, there
exist many variations from one subgenre to another as well as across different time periods as the genre
developed itself.
For instance, consider Ibn Fadlan’s Resala, which started as a type of government report commissionedby the court of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir with specific aims including but not limited to serving as
reconnaissance for the dynasty to strategize its plans for expansion and trading as well as academic knowledge
to be added to the body of scientific work the Caliphate collected. Resala is now considered a literary text
belonging to the travel writing genre. In contrast, Taylor’s Travels in Arabia was originally published as aperiodical for an entirely different type of audience—namely laymen. Therefore, the fact that these two works
were written for very different readers should indicate even before reading that one might discover great
differences in style and intention.
1.1

Travel Writing Across TimeIn terms of differences in travel writing across time, Paul Theroux (2015) maintains that the genre hasdeveloped in two notable ways over time. First, he notes that most classical examples of travel writing describein just as much detail the arduous journey of reaching their destination as the destination itself (p. 9), which isthe case with Ibn Fadlan and Taylor. In other words, the lack of advanced, efficient, and even comfortablemeans of transportation often made the traveler's journey just as adventurous, and therefore noteworthy, to thereader; these moments leading up to arrival consequently received far more attention in travel accounts thando more modern counterparts. As a result, we as readers gain a great deal of insight into the struggles andhardships the travelers had to endure and should consider how they possibly impact writers’ attitudes toward
their subject matter. Theroux’s second point with regard to classical traveling writing accounts as opposed tomodern ones is how, by force of circumstances, they rely almost exclusively on descriptive accounts—
oftentimes describing sights, smells, and sounds that had never been experienced by their audiences. Without

the conveniences of photography or audiovisual technologies, language took on an even more critical role inconveying and mediating the foreign experience to readers.
1.2

Othering and Ideology in Writing
According to Staszack (2009), the “Other” or general notion of “othering” occurs when the author
distinguishes themselves and/or their culture from out groups (i.e., us vs. them) by way of highlighting
perceived differences, usually to distance themselves from the flaws or strangeness of the “Other” underdiscussion. This results in the establishment of a false dichotomy—an “us” portrayed as exhibiting normativeand familiar behaviors and beliefs in contrast to “them” essentialized by the unconventionality of their practices.
While the state of being different can indeed be represented in a positive or negative light, depending on theway the author narrates, othering largely refers to cases in which ideology distorts this narration. Hamza (2016)
defines ideology as a set of beliefs that shape how we or, more specifically, the authors of texts, view the world(p. 67). Verschueren (2014) states that ideology “is associated with underlying patterns of meaning, frames ofinterpretation, world views, or forms of everyday thinking and explanation” (p. 7). Similarly, othering tends
to resort to more negative and, above all, more generalized depictions of the “Other” without exploring thenuances that complicate a more complete and accurate representation of a given society. Examining this false
dichotomy that results from othering and unchecked ideologies allows us to better identify the relationshipbetween writers’ depictions of the “Other” and reality—or in other words, how the authors’ views shape theway they describe their observations. In short, the ideology of travel writers is often reflected in their works,
observable through the ways they represent the “Other”.
1.3

Examining Othering and Ideology in Both Texts
It is critical, therefore, when examining any piece of travel writing to take into consideration eachauthor’s potential sources of biases. Once this precaution has been taken, there are many ways we can begin
to read into what has been written to gain an idea of the messages conveyed and why. The use of linguistic
analysis is one way of gaining insights into culture, not available in a surface reading of travel writers’descriptions of their travel destination. The specific linguistic choices used by these writers to describe what
has been seen must be scrutinized in order to uncover possible instances where they are not simply informing
but persuading and/or expressing acceptance or rejection. Santos (2006) states that the representation of the"Other" in travel writing reflects dominant ideologies (p. 626). She adds, "no textual staging is ever innocent."
We are always inscribing values in our writing" (Santos, 2006, p. 627). Given that Ibn Fadlan was among theCaliph's retinue, his account of his travels in Resala would have been used to help make critical politicaldecisions. Similarly, Tayor’s travel writing frequently appeared in newspapers e.g., “The Saturday Evening
Post, The United States, and The New York Tribune”, many of which were widely influential among the public.
Therefore, it is crucial not only to read these two travel writing books as an insight into the ideologies behind
their linguistic choices and how they might have affected their audiences—taking into consideration thetravelog's role in shaping public opinion. In this way, understanding ideologies and othering in this research
will help us understand certain assumptions about foreign cultures and how ideologies affect the way people
perceive things. This analysis also may result in helping introduce two masterpieces of travel writing to the
new generations in a way that differs from previous attempts.
As alluded to, the rationale for conducting this study includes the following: first, the study examines
two travel books whose writers leave their homeland to explore a new and foreign land. As a result, the texts
offer a unique perspective, that of a "stranger in a strange land" viewing Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
This analysis of perspective helps present-day readers understand how these regions were portrayed back to
the two writers' respective societies at the time of their publication. In other words, from the texts, we cancreate a clearer image of how the ideologies underpinning the texts and views of the regions contributed toothering. Second, the study explores how "ideology" and "othering" are linguistically manifested in Ibn Fadlan
and Taylor's works; examining how their linguistic choices help readers and scholars alike to understand thewriters' feelings toward the "Other," which, according to Fanon (1968), often portrays superior-inferior
relationships (p.12). Examining ideology and othering allows us to discover how each writer perceived otherpeople from different cultural backgrounds. The large gap in time, almost 1000 years between the books,
highlights the change in how each author represents the "Other" and the difference in the style and format of
the genre of travel writing itself. This analysis will additionally highlight interesting power dynamics giventhat Ibn Fadlan and Taylor come from rich, powerful countries (The Abbasid Caliphate and the United Statesof America). Moreover, it will reveal how ideology is more consciously transmitted in travel writing in thecase of Ibn Fadlan (who had a clear political ideology), and more unconsciously, in the case of Taylor, (whonevertheless drove public opinion through his newspaper periodicals).

2. The Men and the Journeys
2.1 Ahmed Ibn Fadlan
Ibn Fadlan (877-960) was an Arab explorer, diplomat, and travel writer from Baghdad. He visited various
places such as Egypt, India, and China and wrote extensively about his experiences. He wrote his book Resala(922) during a mission he led commissioned by Abbasid Caliph Al- Muqtadir to help the king of the Volga
Bulgar. He started the long journey from Baghdad, passing through what is now Iran, Turkey, Eastern Europe,
the Scandinavian countries, and the Balkans, ending in Russia before heading back home. During this exciting
and lengthy journey, he meticulously recorded the habits, cuisine, customs, death practices, sexuality, and theconcept of purity of the nations he visited. According to Toplak (2017), Resala contains a rich body of
information about all the cultures that Ibn Fadlan witnessed during his journey from the perspective of a Middle
Easterner (p. 91).
2.2 Bayard Taylor
Bayard Taylor (1825-1878), by contrast, was an American diplomat, journalist, and travel writer,
traveling far and wide to areas of Europe, Asia, and Africa (specifically Egypt and central Africa). His writing
style invites readers to imagine the cultural elements of the nations/ethnic communities he visited, such as theirfoods, scents, and clothing, and the dangers he faced, all presented in his rich descriptive accounts. In Travels
in Arabia (1889), Taylor records his account of the journey to Yemen, Hadramout, Mecca and Medina, Oman,and several other regions in the Arabian Peninsula. During these journeys, he explored the Bedouin lifestyle,religious practices, traditions, and cultures. Moran (2006) states that Taylor was known as a best-selling author,
lecturer (traveling around the United States to give lectures about Arab culture dressed in Arab clothes), andjournalist and is considered the "Great American Traveler." In addition, he helped shape the image of the Eastin the American imagination, especially the Arab world (p. 7).

3. Methodology
The paper aims to answer the following question:
R.Q.1: How do Ibn Fadlan and Taylor's linguistic choices represent the "Other"?
To answer this question, my methodology is as follows: I begin with close readings of both texts to
identify the following major content themes: death, sex, food, clothes, etc. Alongside this content analysis of
said themes, instances of sense impressions—sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste—are also recorded. I pay
special attention to the source of these sense impressions and the language used to describe them. The content
themes and the sense impressions are analyzed for instantiations of othering and ideology. Othering is marked
using pronouns, and nominalizations (using specific nouns to describe the other). In the case of Fadlan, key
instantiations of language used in the translated text were compared to the original Arabic text. The fact that I
am a translator and native speaker of Arabic allowed me to find the most accurate translation that matches the
Arabic connotative meaning of words.
One of the problems in this study is that certain words may be challenging to understand, especially in
the Arabic text of Ibn Fadlan. The text is written in old Arabic script, and the linguistic connotations may varyslightly from present-day connotations. Therefore, an Arabic dictionary is consulted (e.g., Al-Ma'aany) toaddress any ambiguities or challenging words before the data is analyzed. I followed the same procedure with
Talyor's text and consulted the Oxford English Dictionary (O.E.D.), which shows the change in the meaning
and usage of words over time. This procedure of analysis helps to understand the text better and facilitates theanalyzing process. A further limitation of this study that must be acknowledged is its scope; only one work byeach author is under analysis. We cannot generalize the results of this study over all the travel writing of bothwriters. Given that Ibn Fadlan and Taylor both wrote extensively throughout their lives, the two works studied
here only represent a portion of their beliefs and only at the time of publication.

4.

Research: Stylistics Analysis

4.1 Resala (922)Authors usually select specific lexical word choices not only to describe what they see but also topersuade and express their acceptance or rejection (i.e., when biases come through in the writing of the text).
Previous scholars such as Bahiy (2006) have often pointed out that much of the information in Resala ishistorically true—dates and times matching historians’ accounts—and that Fadlan is generally honest in his
retellings. Fadlan’s word choices often attempt to demonstrate objectivity, with many statements introduced
by verbs such as “found”, “saw” and “heard” when they were personally witnessed by Fadlan.

“I Found the debased underweight dirhams of Khwarazm struck in lead and brass” (Faḍlān & Frye,2010, p. 28)“I saw it was a lump of ice so that I had to thaw it out of the fire” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 31).
“I have heard how they enounce: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is the prophet of Allah,”so as they get close to any Muslims who come to them by these words, but not because they believethem” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 34).
“We watched one detachment attack another, the two mingling for a while and then separating”(Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 50).
In instances where he did not directly witness the events, he often used the passive voice:“I used to be told that at the time of death, they do certain things to their chiefs, the least of which isburning” Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 66).
Based on this information, the descriptions of the people he encountered in Resala can generally betrusted to be historically accurate when he describes their everyday practices including those related to food,sex, habits, religious practices, and purity. One example of Ibn Fadlan accuracy can be seen in his comparisonof oils. In the following lines, Ibn Fadlan compares the oil used in cooking in Turks’ land to what he used toin his home city of Baghdad:“They have neither olive oil, nor sesame oil, nor cooking oil of any kind. They use instead of these oils
fish oil, and everything that they use reeks of fish oil” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 54).
Because of the different climates of the Arab landscape, Arab people are not generally used to eatingfish as much as other nations. The smell of fish is, therefore, not desirable to Ibn Fadlan nor his audience andwould have been received negatively as a cooking habit. Consequently, his description as well as emotional
reaction to the event are in accordance with historical facts, which agrees with Bahiy’s concussion on Ibn
Fadlan.
4.1.1

Ibn Fadlan’s ComparisonsComparisons such as the one mentioned above are implicit and require the reader to understand thecultural and historical background like Bahiy did. However, there are also a number of explicit comparisons
Ibn Fadlan employs, which was a way to draw dynamic pictures of things he witnessed to enable his audienceto imagine them with their aromas and tastes. The following excerpts from what he saw in Balkan and Rus’
land demonstrate this:“I saw that they have apples of a very vivid green color, and sourer than wine vinegar. Young girls
eat them, they are called “girl apples”. I saw nothing more abundant in their country than hazelnut
trees” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 53).
“I saw certain trees they have, the nature of which I do not know. These were extremely tall trees, thetrunks of which were bare of leaves. The tops of these trees were similar to the tops of palm trees inthat they had [fine] fronds, except that they were more closely set together. The natives single out aspot on the trunk which they [seem to] know, where they drill a hole beneath which they place a vessel.
There flows into the vessel from this hole a liquid that is more delicious than honey” (Faḍlān & Frye,2010, p. 53-54).
“Near this river is a vast wilderness wherein they say there is an animal that is less than the cameland more than the bull in size. Its head is like the head of a camel, and its tail is like the tail of a bull,
while its body is like the body of a mule, and its hooves are like the cloven hooves of a bull. In thecenter of its head, it has a thick, round horn, which as it rises from the head of the animal gets to bethinner until it becomes like the point of a lance” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 60).

4.1.2 Ibn Fadlan’s Ideology
Despite the truth in Bahiy’s conclusions, Ibn Fadlan’s ideology did in fact affect the way he perceived
and judged individuals on his journey. In this regard, Bahiy is not entirely correct. The notion of ideology
refers to how writers hold certain assumptions and beliefs about the world that affect their linguistic choices.
Ibn Fadlan’s ideology, beliefs, and culture affected how he saw the “Other” and their culture. Ibn Fadlan’s
mission “was occasioned by request from Khan Almish ibn Yiltawar, who had converted to Islam with hiscourt and asked the caliph of Baghdad for instruction in Islamic precepts and for help in building a mosque”(Toplak, 2017, p. 90). Ibn Fadlan’s religious background and assigned role in leading the mission (as the caliphmessenger) made him prone to judging all that he saw and the “Other” from a religious perspective. “He wasan honest believer in Allah and hated things Islam rejected [such as] in funerals” (Al-Dahan, 1960, p. 26). For
example, he described the “Other” the Turks with pejorative nouns like “asses” because they were notbelievers, reflecting Ibn Fadlan’s inner religious ideology. He rejected a group of people that shave theirbeards, which according to Ibn Fadlan’s religion is not acceptable for men to do. In addition, he used several
religious phrases to show his refusal of what the “Other” believed in and tried to change their actions andbeliefs.
“They are like asses gone astray. They have no religious bound with God, nor they have recourse toreason” (Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 33).
“A man had accepted Islam at my hands whose name was Talut and named him `Abdallah. He said:“I want you to call me by your name, ‘Muhammad’.” And I did. His wife, his mother, and his children
also accepted Islam and were all of them called Muhammad” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 57).
“They shave off their beards and eat lice” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 42).
“The Lord, who is in Heaven, is the greatest of them all, although he is in complete agreement withthe others. Each one of them approves of what his partner does. May God be greatly exalted above
what the iniquitous say” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 43).
“I did not cease to strive [to induce them] to make the women cover themselves from the men whileswimming, but I did not succeed in my endeavors” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 57).
Another example of Ibn Fadlan’s ideology is his overgeneralizations that provide little to no evidence intheir defense. Pandey (2004) states that there is a syntactic strategy some writers can use that consists of using
short declarative statements that usually have a semantic generalization about a particular group of people (p.
167)—i.e., the usage of stereotypes, specifically regarding the domain of race. Ibn Fadlan used thisstereotyping technique to describe a group of Turks with his semantic overgeneralizing statements:“They are the most wicked of the Turks, the dirtiest of them, and the most audacious in thecommission of murder” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 42).
4.1.3 Ibn Fadlan’s Linguistic Choices
As a result of his ideology, therefore, Ibn Fadla’s linguistic choices often exhibited his prejudices.
According to Bhabha (1993), the concept of “othering” and instances of labeling communities with it arises
from the desire to highlight the harmful and undesirable traits of certain groups of people to support the claimthat they are a threat (p.78). Additionally, Pandey (2004) states that the usage of negative adjectives aims to
provoke negative emotions in the reader toward the “Other” (p. 167). Ibn Fadlan used negative adjectives suchas wicked, dirty, audacious, ugly, mean, and some verbs like “kill” when labeling the “Other” in order to show
how dangerous and murderous they were. The following lines exhibit this tendency:“The next day, one of the Turks met us. He was ugly in the figure, dirty in appearance, despicable inmanner, and base in nature” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 37).
“Thus, when one man meets another, he cuts off his head, takes it with him, and leaves the body.”(Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 42).
“They kill the thief as they kill the fornicator” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 57).
“I saw that the jacket which he had underneath was fraying apart from dirt, for it is their custom thatno one shall take off the garment which he wears on his body until it disintegrates” (Faḍlan & Frye,2010, p. 40).
Furthermore, Frye (2017), a translator and commentator of Ibn Fadlan’s work Resala, notes how thewriter often omits positive attributes in favor of more unflattering ones. “Although the clothing, jewelry, andarms of the Rus interested [Ibn Fadlan], he was even more observant of and disgusted by the Rus practice ofwashing in a basin rather than having water poured over hands and face as the Muslims would do” (p. 106).
“As a matter of duty, they wash daily their faces and heads in a manner so dirty, and so unclean, as
could possibly be imagined. Thus it was carried out. A slave girl brings each morning early a large
vessel with water and gives the vessel to her master, and he washes his hands and face and the hair of
his head. He washed it with a comb into the bucket, then blows his nose and spits into the bucket. He
holds back nothing impure but rather lets it go into the water. After he has done what was necessary,
the girl takes the same vessel to the one who is nearest, and he does just as his neighbor had done“(Faḍlān & Frye, 2010, p. 65).
4.1.4 Ibn Fadlan’s Usage of Pronouns
Ibn Fadlan also used pronouns—they, them, their, themselves—in association with negative traits orpractices in his otherization of the groups he encountered. Abubakar et al. (2021), in their analysis of“othering” in Buchi Emecheta’s Second-Class Citizen, mention this phenomenon in the following statement:“As an African author, Emecheta tends to represent the “Other,” African natives, as backward, inferior, and oflower social class. This representation is based on the existence of economic and socio-cultural differences
and conflictual relationships between African indigenous people and British citizens” (p. 1538). Ibn Fadlan’scondescension is most likely a result of his different socio-cultural background from all the “Others” that heobserved; in contrast to his luxurious civilized life in his capital city, he tended to portray his subjects as poor,
less civilized, and inferior. “He looked down upon all the nations he visited” (Al-Dahan, 1960, p. 22).
Consequently, his linguistic choices to represent the “Other” were generally associated with harmful anddisgusting actions as can be seen in the following excerpts:“They shave off their beards and eat lice” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 42).
“One of them will examine the seam of his tunic and grind the lice with his teeth” (Faḍlān & Frye,2010, p. 42).
“The men and the women go down to the river and bathe together naked, without covering themselves
one from the other “(Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 56).
Apart from socio-economic factors, Lippi-Green (1997) claims that accents can be used as anotherway of excluding and refusing to recognize the “Other” (p. 64). While Ibn Fadlan did not reject or denigrate
the “Other” on account of their accents, he did often make observations of their language phonological sounds
and associated them with negative connotations. “Resala shows us that Ibn Fadlan lacked knowledge of any
other foreign language, evidenced by the fact that he needed to recruit interpreters on the journey” (Al-Dahan,
1960, p. 24). Because of the lack of direct communication and ignorance of the languages he observed, he may
have reacted negatively with his linguistic choices in describing some features of their languages.
“They are the most vulgar of people in speech and by nature. Their speech is mostly, like the chatterof starlings” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 29).
“Their tongue is mostly like the croaking of frogs” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 30).
It is worth mentioning Ibn Fadlan’s usage of pronouns to create distance between “Us” and “Them”
as well as “I” and “He” as suggested by the scholar of othering, Van Dijk (1984). He calls these pronouns“demonstratives of distance” and explains how writers use them to show the difference between two
individuals or groups and to establish a contrast between them. By doing so, the writer can “establish aperspective” (p. 125). In the following excerpt, Ibn Fadlan distances himself from the “Other” group byemphasizing the difference between “Us,”—who are more civilized from his point of view—and “Them,”—
who are less civilized.
“One of them who had accepted Islam was with us and used to serve us. I saw him find a louse in his
clothing. He crushed it between his fingernails and licked it, and he said when he saw me: “Good!”(Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 43).
Given Ibn Fadlan was a religious man, he used the Islamic states of purity as the standard to evaluate
the “Other”’s practices. Osim et al. (2021) state that “Tahara—Arabic for purity—is defined as a state
appropriate for ritual activity after cleansing from certain bodily acts, such as defecation, sexual intercourse,or menstruation” (p. 122). Ibn Fadlan’s beliefs in purity and religious doctrine influenced his representation of
the “Other” through the usage of words like cleansing and impurity.
“They are the dirtiest creatures of God. They have no shame in voiding their bowels and bladder, nor
do they wash themselves when polluted by the emission of semen, nor do they wash their hands after
eating. They are then like asses who have gone astray” (Faḍlan & Frye, 2010, p. 64).
One historical point that helps prove Ibn Fadlan’s deep religious biases is the fact that the Abbasid
caliphate was relatively liberal. The multiculturalism, openness to other cultures, secular nature, and evensexually deviant practices of the Abbasid empire (Elbarbary, 2022, p. 2) contrast greatly with Ibn Fadlan’sviews. Given that he was firm in his conservatism despite his surroundings shows that he was more than likely
to have looked for religious righteousness in his travel accounts as he often did at home. As mentioned above,
Ibn Fadlan led the mission to explain the Islamic laws to the Volga Bulgars King, so it makes sense that hewould have used his linguistic choices to criticize the habits, dressing, or sexual practices of the “Other” bydescribing his reactions and comments with religious phrases.
“Their women do not veil themselves before their [own] men nor before others, and in the same way,
nor does any woman cover any part of her body parts in the presence of any person” (Faḍlan & Frye,2010, p. 34).
“The man’s wife was present. As we conversed, the woman uncovered her pudendum and scratched
it, and we saw her doing it. Then, we veiled our faces and said, “I beg God’s pardon” (Faḍlan &Frye, 2010, p. 34).
4.2 Travels in Arabia (1889)
Almost a thousand years after Ibn Fadlan, Bayard Taylor traveled to discover the Arabian Peninsula.
“His works represent the American national identity and the characteristics of the Arab Islamic world as seen
by him and his culture” (Moran, 2006, p. 201). In “Travels in Arabia” (1889), Taylor represents the East fromthe eyes of a traveler coming from the West. The writer seems more interested in representing his vision of theEast than an actual historical or ethnographic accounting of the region. As Taylor’s work is mainly aimed atnewspaper readers, he uses thick descriptions to create visual images for the reader to attract as much attention
as possible. In addition, he mentions his readers in his writing to show closeness and familiarity and to enforce
an us-them division with uses of inclusive “we”’s“My readers are doubtless already aware that nothing was of higher importance for us than the mostabsolute incognito, above all in whatever regarded European origin and character” (Taylor, 2018, p.
67).
“We will conclude these quotations from Burton’s narrative with his description of a sermon in thegreat mosque of Mecca” (Taylor, 2018, p. 40).
4.2.1 Taylor’s Comparisons
As Ibn Fadlan did before, Taylor uses comparisons to contrast what he has seen abroad to what he isused to in his home country or what he has experienced during his previous travels. Taylor uses thesecomparisons to vividly describe the tastes, smells, and architectural styles of the cities he has passed through.
“…the coffee of this crop is always inferior to that of the first” (Taylor, 2018, p. 13).
“There were no giant fragments of hoar antiquity as in Egypt, no remains of graceful andharmonious beauty as in Greece and Italy, no barbaric gorgeousness as in the buildings of India;
yet the view was strange, unique, and how few have looked upon the celebrated shrine!” (Taylor, 2018,
p. 38).
4.2.3 Taylor’s Ideology“Many orientalists such as Silvestre de Sacy, Ernest Renan, Richard Burton, and Edward Lane, who
existed before Bayard Taylor “introduced and presented the countries and cultures of their travels to theirsocieties back home, influencing the shape of Western perception and generalizations about the Orient” (Moran,
2006, p. 200). This may contribute to shaping Taylor’s ideology, which can be inferred from the chosen topics
he covers, affecting his linguistic choices. Religion is covered in a good amount of Taylor’s narrative in“Travels of Arabia.” This may happen because Taylor knew the book would be published in the newspaper.

Three major topics always attract readers: politics, religion, and sex. “Taylor’s characterization of the Orient
embodied the traditional Christian critique of Islam itself” (Moran, 2006, p. 205). Taylor’s narration referred
to Europe and the United States as the “Christian world” to ideologically differentiate “Us” (i.e., Europe andthe United States) from the “Them” (the Arabs/ Muslims). “Positive self-representation is often accomplishedby othering practices in which linguistic contrasts and qualifications are proffered in order to qualify semantic
propositions” (Pandey, 2004, p.168). Taylor’s tends to represent the “Other” as haters of any religion but Islamin his linguistic choices:“…it remained comparatively unknown to the Christian world” (Taylor, 2018, p. 6).
“…I was astonished at the mean and tawdry appearance of a place so universally venerated in the
Moslem world” (Taylor, 2018, p. 35).
“The people, it seemed, were already accustomed to the sight of Christian merchants in their town”(Taylor, 2018, p. 11).
“…that these stones were raised by the unassisted hands of the Kafirs1? No! no! They had devils,
legions of devils (God preserve us from them!), to aid them” (Taylor, 2018, p. 32).
“…you are no doctors, you are Christians, spies, and revolutionists, come hither to ruin our religion
and state on behalf of those who sent you” (Taylor, 2018, p. 114).
4.2.3 Taylor’s Linguistic Choices
According to Sonesson et al. (2020), “othering involves two opposing types of cultures: the Alterculture of relatively high value and/or good communicational standing, and [the] Alius-culture with less (orno) value and/or outside the range of what can be mutually communicated” (p. 1). The fact that Taylor comesfrom a Western culture predisposes him to look down upon the locals he meets due to their conservatism anddifferent practices. He, therefore, often expresses this feeling in terms of the two opposing cultures by use of“othering” when describing individuals, he meets. This is clear by his choice of adjectives to describe
Europeans (we), such as intelligent or handsome, and negative nouns and adjectives for the “Other”; hedescribes them as furious animals, having an aggressive character and behavior, and being annoyingly curious.
“The holy cities of Medina and Mecca visited by intelligent Europeans” (Taylor, 2018, p. 7).
“When she saw five handsome men like us rush” (Taylor, 2018, p. 48).
“A remarkably handsome face, of a type evidently not belonging to the Arab peninsula, long haircurling down to the shoulders, an over-dress” (Taylor, 2018, p. 92).
“He was tall, and for a negro, handsome” (Taylor, 2018, p. 108).
“The Bedouins turned round upon us like wildcats, but they had no daggers” (Taylor, 2018, p. 38).
“And then to talk about putting me to death!” (Taylor, 2018, p. 114).
“...two men, Alee and Djordee, utter barbarians in appearance no less than in character” (Taylor,2018, p. 44).
“Although they were somewhat annoyed by the great curiosity of the inhabitants” (Taylor, 2018, p.
11).
“The travelers were here very much annoyed by the curiosity of the people” (Taylor, 2018, p. 15).
“…two or three European books for my own private use and kept carefully secret from Arab curiosity”(Taylor, 2018, p. 45).
“One of the Bedouins kneaded it with his unwashed hands or a dirty bit of leather, pouring over it alittle of the dingy water contained in the skins” (Taylor, 2018, p. 46).
“…my telling him that his ancestors were then capable of greater works than themselves” (Taylor,2018, p. 31).
1

The Arabic word for infidels.

Taylor, on many occasions, tends to show that he could trick the locals with his intelligence. This is theimage that Taylor wanted to deliver about the natives—that they are naive and easily tricked.
“Yes,’ I replied aloud, ‘in my country we always dine before an attack of robbers because that gentry
is in the habit of sending men to bed supperless.’ The Shekh laughed aloud, but those around him
looked offended.” (Taylor, 2018, p. 37).
4.2.4 Taylor’s Usage of Pronouns
As mentioned above, othering occurs when the writers distinguish themselves from the “Other”. This
othering always has a positive self-representation and a negative characterization of people in the out-group.
Bayard Taylor on many occasions uses negative adjectives to describe the Arabs and even some Europeans.
Taylor uses pronouns to reinforce the cultural differences and distance himself and his group from other people.
Taylor’s attitude is reflective of the Eurocentric behavior that was common during the time of writing the book.
For instance, the following quote highlights the othering and the negative representation of the “Other”: anomadic group as well as the Irish people. He reports Palgrave’s2 travels on his way crossing the Nefood tothe southeast, describing a nomadic group with pejorative terms such as barbarous and savage. Moreover, hedescribes them as being uncivilized and sans-culottes.
Surprisingly, there is another instance of othering, this time against a European group, namely the Irish.
He describes this nomadic group of men as being ugly and weak like a scarecrow or an Irishman. Given thefact that Taylor is an American, and during his time American society considered the Irish people who migrated
to the United States a lower class. Most of them were working in agriculture, presented as being not part of
the urban society, and received a good amount of education. That might be the reason for Taylor’s use of thescarecrow and the Irish allusion when describing the nomadic group.
There is yet another point about the fact that the Arabs do not wear pants, it might not be consideredothering, but Taylor wants to share the Arab culture with the readers. Historically, in Europe especially inFrance, sans-culottes were the poor who could not afford to buy pants. The Arabs did not wear pants—it not
being a part of their traditional costume. Taylor wants to introduce a surprising fact to the readers by statingthat all Arabs are sans-culottes.
They were barbarous, nay, almost savage, fellows, like most Sherarat, whether chiefs or people; but
they had been somewhat awed by the grandeurs of Hamood, and yet more so by the prospect of coming
so soon before the terrible majesty of Telal himself. All were duly armed and had put on their best
suits of apparel, a piece of equipment worthy of a scarecrow or of an Irishman at a wake. Tattered red
overalls; cloaks with more patches than original substance, or, worse yet, which opened large mouths
to cry for patching, but had not got it; little broken tobacco pipes, and no trousers soever (by the way,
all genuine Arabs are sans-culottes); faces meagre with habitual hunger, and black with dirt andweather stains—such were the high-born chiefs of Azzam, on their way to the king’s levee (Taylor,2018, p. 54).
Another example of Taylor’s othering is his description of some local nomadic people. In the following
quote, Taylor describes his guide with negative linguistic choices, such as being submissive and acting like adog. His choice of the word “dog” to describe the man emphasizes his submissive character to others, as dogs
are submissive to their masters.
Suddenly several horsemen appeared on the opposite cliff, and one of them, a handsome youth, withlong, curling hair, well-armed and well-mounted (we shall make his more special acquaintance in thenext chapter), called out to our guide to halt, and answer in his own behalf and ours. This Suleyman
did, not without those marks of timidity in his voice and gesture which a Bedouin seldom fails to showon his approach to a town, for, when once in it, he is apt to sneak about much like a dog who has just
2 Taylor notes that William Gifford Palgrave traveled to Arabia between 1862-63 and gave us a full account of theinterior of the country, including the great Wahabee state of Nedjed, the early home of Arabian poetry and of the famous
Arabian breed of horses. Taylor states that Palgrave account to Arabia is superior to the accounts of Burckhardt or Burton
in terms of the cultural components and writing styles. He adds that Palgrave’s writing in culture and literature is equal
to any native speaker of Arabic (Taylor, 2018, p. 36).

received a beating for theft. On his answer, delivered in a most submissive tone, the horsemen held abrief consultation, and we then saw two of them turn their horses’ heads and gallop off in the directionof the Djowf, while our original interlocutor called out to Suleyman, ‘All right, go on, and fear nothing,’
and then disappeared after the rest of the band behind the verge of the upland (Taylor, 2018, p. 45).

5. Results
Both Ibn Fadlan and Taylor’s ideology affected their linguistic choices and their representation of the“Other.” Their ideology resulted in seeing different things than what they were used to negatively. “othering”
is always associated with a negative view. Both writers share the characteristic that they come from a richer
and more powerful culture than the places they have visited. Both have their respective religious ideology, and
it is clear that it affected their linguistic choices and how they saw the “Other”. However, their styles differ insome important regards. Namely, Ibn Fadlan often comments on what he sees with religious phrases ofadmonition, while Taylor does not. In addition, Ibn Fadlan is more explicit about describing the “Other,” andhis linguistic choices are more aggressive, vulgar, and pejorative than Taylor’s. Another of the writing styles
that distinguishes Taylor from Ibn Fadlan is that Taylor speaks about his audience directly within the text. For
instance, he uses the phrase “my readers” on many occasions. Moreover, Taylor tries to create a morehumorous atmosphere than Ibn Fadlan, who was serious and had no intentions in doing so. This research is awork in progress, and further results are expected to emerge at later stages.

References
Abubakar, H. A., Hassan, I., & Azmi, M. N. (2021). Otherness in Buchi Emecheta’s second class citizen: A
postcolonial rendering. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 11(12), 1534–1539.
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1112.04.
Abulafia, D., Bormpoudaki, M., Vermeulen, C., & Toplak, M. (2017). Ahmad ibn Fadlan’s "Risala" - An
Arab Diplomat's Travelogue. In Crossroads: Travelling through the Middle Ages ad 300-1000 (pp.
90–91). essay, WBOOKS.
Al-Dahan, S. (1960). Resala Ibn Fadlan. Hashmyia Press.
Bahiy, E. (2006). Resala Ib Fadlan: Kra’aa Thkafya / Ibn Fadlan’s Epistle: A Cultural Reading. Alif: Journalof Comparative Poetics, 26, 105–137. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30197959.
Bhabha, H. (1993). The other question: Stereotype, discrimination, and the discourse of colonialism.
London: Routledge.
Fadlan, A. I., & Frye, R. N. (2010). Ibn Fadlan's journey to Russia: A tenth-century traveler from Baghdad
to the Volga River. Markus Wiener Publishers.
Fadan, I. A., & McKeithen, J. E. (1979). The risalah of Ibn Fadlan: An annotated translation withintroduction [Doctoral dissertation, The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature, Indiana
University].
Fanon, F. (1968). Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Weidenfeld.
Elbarbary, A. (2022). “The Masculinity of Female Lovers in Abbasid Amatory Poetry (Shi’r
al-Ghazal)”: A Stylistic Study [Unpublished paper]. Applied Linguistics, Ohio University.
Hamza, A. (2016). Conclusion: Marxism and films. Althusser and Pasolini, 179–190.
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56652-2_28.
Lippi-Green, R. (1997). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States.
New York: Routledge.
Moran, T. (2006). Bayard Taylor and American Orientalism: 19th Century Representation of National
Character and the Other [Doctoral dissertation, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford,
MA].
Osim, S. E., & Eteng, N. G. (2021). Women and Ritual Purity in Islam. Indonesian Journal of Social and
Educational Studies, 2(1). https://doi.org/doi.org/10.35580/ijses.v2i1.22956.
Pandey, A. (2004). Constructing Otherness: A linguistic analysis of the politics of representation andexclusion in freshmen writing. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 153–184.
https://doi.org/10.5070/l4142005075
Said, E. W. (1995). Orientalism. Penguin Books.
Santos, C. A. (2006). Cultural politics in contemporary travel writing. Annals of Tourism
Sartre, J. P. (1965). The philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre (Robert Cummings, Ed.). New York:
Random House.

Sonesson, G., Lenninger, S., & Rédei, A. C. (2020). Introduction: The making of them and US – cultural
encounters conveyed also through pictorial means. Semiotica, 2020(232), 1–4.
https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2019-0116.
Staszak, J. (2009). Other/Otherness. In Kitchin & Thrift (Ed.), International encyclopedia of
human geography: A 12-volume set (1st ed., pp. -). Oxford: Elsevier Science. Retrieved
from https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:77582.
Taylor, B. (2018). Travels in Arabia. Salzwasser-Verlag Gmbh.
Theroux, P. (2015). Deep South: Four seasons on back roads. Houghton Mifflin.
Van Dijk, T. A. (1984). Prejudice in discourse: An analysis of ethnic prejudice in cognitionand conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Verschueren, J. (2014). Ideology in language use: Pragmatic guidelines for empirical research. Cambridge
University Press.

Compliance with Ethical Standards
This research has not received any funding to help with the preparation of this manuscript and theauthor has no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. In addition, this research does not
involve any human or animal participants. All the data are collected from texts produced by Ahmed Ibn
Fadlan and Bayard Taylor.