Pre-Revolutionary Oriental Studies in Kazan as a Foundation for Developing a Dialogic Approach to Studying the Interaction between Islam and Christianity

This article outlines the distinct characteristics of Kazan’s pre-revolutionary Oriental studies, which developed throughout the 19th century within academic and missionary discourses. The methodological approaches used by their representatives to explore the history and culture of the “Other”, (i.e., Islam and Muslim culture here) are identified. The origins of these approaches are traced. The interaction between academic scholars (primarily from Kazan University) and missionary researchers (from the Kazan Theological Academy) during the establishment of Orientalism as a separate branch is described. The results obtained show that a dialogical approach to studying Islam and Muslim culture in the second half of the 19th century was enabled by a complex interplay of academic, missionary, and social discourses.