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Abstract
Albert von Le Coq's archaeological exploits are well known from Peter Hopkirk's book Foreign Devils on the Silk Road. His name is not unknown among local people in Xinjiang (both Han Chinese and Uyghur) as one of those Europeans who “plundered” the region's heritage. One of a handful of like-minded and determined scholars who took part in the international race to appropriate the ancient treasures of this region, Le Coq's interests went beyond pre-Islamic archaeology and art history. He displayed more curiosity in contemporary society and culture than most other traveller-scholars of his time. His non-archaeological publications reveal his keen interest in the ethnography of the Turkic-speaking Muslim population, and his popular writings combine highly specialised information about the cultural and material history of the region with entertaining episodes from his personal adventures. Using diverse theoretical frameworks such as those advanced by Mary Louise Pratt, Jürgen Osterhammel and others, this paper scrutinises Le Coq's output as a travel writer. It considers to what extent his travel and ethnographic publications fit contemporary paradigms of imperial travel writing, while drawing attention to those features which mark them out as unique.
Notes
1. The geographical terms Xinjiang and Chinese or Eastern Turkestan will be used interchangeably throughout this essay. The Turkic speaking Muslims, whom Le Coq called “Eastern Turki”, will be referred to as “Turki”.
2. I am grateful to Charles Forsdick and Tim Youngs and the two anonymous reviewers as well as to the participants of the workshop which formed the basis of this special issue for their useful comments. I also thank the Institute for Advanced Study at Nantes, where this article was completed, for providing excellent working conditions.
3. Among Le Coq's scholarly work his multi-volume study of Buddhist art is perhaps the best known: see Le Coq (with Waldschmidt) (Citation1922–Citation19 Citation33). But his multiple interests are also reflected in his translations of Manichaean texts, as well as in his publications pertaining to the folk narratives and beliefs of the Turkic-speaking Muslims (modern Uyghurs) of Xinjiang. See Zieme (Citation2010); Le Coq (Citation1968 [Citation1911]); Le Coq (Citation1912); Le Coq (Citation1916); Le Coq (Citation1919).
4. In preparing this essay, I have relied on the German originals throughout and all translations are my own.
5. For Albert von Le Coq's biography and for the Turfan expeditions see, for example, Moeller (Citation1985); Hopkirk (Citation1980, 111–133); Trümpler (Citation2008); Marchand (Citation2009, 416–424); International Dunhuang Project (Citation2013); Sundermann (Citation2013); Höfer (Citation2013); Torma (Citation2011, 60–66).
6. For an overview of the institution of temporary marriage in Eastern Turkestan, see Bellér-Hann (Citation2008, 266–273).
7. The situation is not unlike the one described in Bohannan (Citation1961). Like Bohannan's account of the Nigerian Tiv people's understanding of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the Turki's valorisation of European habits encapsulates the apparent conflict of universalism and cultural relativism informed and influenced by ethnocentrism.
8. In effect, in perfect accordance with local custom, he put up a votive flag to display his reverence for, and ensure the goodwill of, the saint.
9. Like other foreigners active in Xinjiang at the time, Le Coq must have had some interaction with the Swedish missionaries stationed in Southern Xinjiang at the time, but such contacts remained limited (Citation1928, 28).
10. It is an irony of fate that many of the treasures brought back by the Turfan expedition to Berlin were destroyed during the bombing of the city in World War II.
11. This is an important perspective that contemporary scholarship on Xinjiang tends to neglect in its enthusiasm to situate the Uyghurs between the Chinese polity and Central Asian culture. For example, see Bellér-Hann et al. (Citation2007).
12. For a study of German language travel literature at the time of high colonialism see Sidikov (Citation2003). For an analysis of German Oriental Studies see Mangold (Citation2004).
13. On the perception of German historical scholarship of Central Asia as the Urheimat of the Aryans, see Sidikov (Citation2003, 68–75).