- Were you surprised to find that When Asia Was the World—a book recommended for a reading list on the history of Islam—actually begins with the story of a Chinese Buddhist’s voyage to India? How is your perception of Islam changed when you see the Muslim faith framed in terms of its relations with Asia, instead of with the Western world?
- Each of the chapters in When Asia was the World is based on a first-person historical narrative, with one exception: the shipwreck off the coast of Sumatra of the Intan, a ship that functions as the “protagonist” of chapter four. Is having material objects “tell stories” a believable device? In what way is their use analogous to written texts, and in what ways are they different? Do you think it is possible to “write history” without written evidence from the past?
- In what way do the individual life experiences in When Asia Was the World form a coherent whole? Besides the experience of travel itself, what are the recurring themes and points of intersection between the different chapters? Are there any that do not seem to fit?
- Stuart Gordon’s book covers a broad sweep of time, but can it really be considered “history”?
Discussion points developed by Giancarlo Casale, University of Minnesota
When Asia Was the World by 