Travels to the Tigris Sources... Studies of Josef Wünsch

In the second half of the 19th century, European research interest in West Asia was increasingly extended to areas inhabited by Kurds. From today`s perspective, these studies not only contributed to the exploration of then little known regions, but also to the emergence of Kurdish Studies. Initially, research interest was almost exclusively determined by British, Russian, and French colonial interests, which have been deconstructed by postcolonial approaches over the last three decades. Study trips without pursuing a colonial background and economic or power-political intentions are of particular interest for this very reason. Therefore, the independently organized research of Josef Wünsch (1842-1907), who worked in Vienna and Prague, can be seen as ethnographic and cartographic pioneering work. For the first time, Wünsch produced detailed maps of the `Kurdish regions` and established ethnographic collections. He followed universalistic research interests and published the results of his research on Mesopotamia in Viennese and Prague journals, but he never wrote an overall account of his two years of research at the beginning of the 1880s. Wünsch`s estate is today divided between various Austrian and Czech institutions. This edited volume brings together the partial estates of Josef Wünsch (today in archives and museums in Prague, Vienna and Rokicany), processes (non-) published results by Wünsch and translates Czech presentations in annotated translation; this documentation then allows a critical re- evaluation. The biographical and chronological contributions are preceded by an introduction on Austrian contributions to the development of Kurdish Studies since the late 19th century. Individual chapters are in German (on the biography and chronology of the exploration), analytical chapters are written in English. For this edited volume Czech, Armenian and Austrian scientists have been working together. Extensive image material documents the cartographic work and the collecting activities of Josef Wünsch. The original findings of Josef Wünsch are further related to English, French and Kurdish sources. Based on critical approaches to Orientalism and postcolonialism, it is shown that studies from non- colonial contexts had their own significance for the disciplinary development of Kurdish Studies. The aim of the publication is to show that a critical comparative source analysis allows a more differentiated view of the Orientalism approach, disciplinary developments, and the historiography of this geographical area.