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Traces of Orientalist Discourse in World War I: Memoirs of Two British War Prisoners on Ottoman Turkey

Year 2020, Volume: 14 Issue: 1, 23 - 33, 25.06.2020

Abstract

This paper explores the representation of the Ottoman Empire in the memoirs of two English captives - John Still and Harry Coghill Watson Bishop. First, the paper discusses the idea of the orient in European history through Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism. Secondly, this study examines the reflection of the orientalist discourse in Still’s and Bishops’ captivity accounts during World War I when they fought against the Ottoman soldiers. Still participated in World War I and was held as a prisoner of war until the end of the Great War, and during his captivity in Turkey, he kept a record of his observations and feelings about the Ottoman Empire. He published A Prisoner in Turkey as an account of his captivity. On the other hand, Bishop fought in the Kut-Al Amara battles as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army in the early days of the war. He was also taken as a captive on the 29th of April 1916. Through a long journey from Bagdad to Ankara, he reached Kastamonu and stayed there as a prisoner of war for almost two years during which he wrote memoirs about his captivity in Turkey.

References

  • Anonymous, On the Road to Kut: A Soldier’s Story of the Mesopotamian Campaign. London: Hutchinson, 1917.
  • Balcer, Jack Martin. “The Greeks and Persians: The Process of Acculturation.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, vol. 32, no. 3, 1983, pp. 257-267.
  • Bishop, Harry Coghill Watson. A Kut Prisoner. John Lane Co., 1920.
  • Bravo, Christopher Dalante. “Chirping Like the Swallows: Aristophanes’ Portrayals of the Barbarian Other.” Unpublished MA thesis. University of Arizona, 2009.
  • Draper, John. “Shakespeare and the Turk.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 55, no. 4, 1956, pp. 523–532.
  • Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discovery of Knowledge. Pantheon Books, 1972.
  • ---. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books, 1995.
  • Güllübağ, Mustafa. Gelibolu’nun İngiliz Yazarları. Tiydem, 2016.
  • Hamilton, Jill. From Gallipoli to Gaza: The Desert Poets of World War One. Simon&Schuster, 2003.
  • Hassal, Christopher. Edward Marsh: Patron of the Arts. Longmans, 1959.
  • Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and Remarking the World Order. Simon&Schuster, 1996.
  • Keenan, Tom. “The ‘Paradox’ of Knowledge and Power: Reading Foucault on Bias.” Political Theory, vol. 15, no. 1, 1987, pp. 5-37.
  • Lewis-Stempel, John. The War Behind the Wire: The Life, Death and Glory of British Prisoners of War, 1914-18. Phoenix, 2014.
  • Matar, Nabil. Turks, Moors and Englishmen in the Age of Discovery. Columbia U.P., 1999.
  • ---. British Captives from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic 1563-1710. Brill Leiden, 2014.
  • “Records Details for Harry Coghill Watson Bishop,” https://www.forces-warrecords.co.uk. (Date Accessed: May 2019).
  • Reynardson, H. Birch. Mesopotamia 1914-15. Andrew Melrose Ltd., 1919.
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades, Christianity and Islam. Columbia U.P., 2011.
  • Said, Edward. Orientalism. Penguin, 2003.
  • Shakespeare, William. Othello. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2008.
  • ---. Hamlet. Engin, 2012.
  • Still, John. A Prisoner in Turkey. John Lane Co., 1920.

Traces of Orientalist Discourse in World War I: Memoirs of Two British War Prisoners on Ottoman Turkey

Year 2020, Volume: 14 Issue: 1, 23 - 33, 25.06.2020

Abstract

This paper explores the representation of the Ottoman Empire in the memoirs of two English captives - John Still and Harry Coghill Watson Bishop. First, the paper discusses the idea of the orient in European history through Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism. Secondly, this study examines the reflection of the orientalist discourse in Still’s and Bishops’ captivity accounts during World War I when they fought against the Ottoman soldiers. Still participated in World War I and was held as a prisoner of war until the end of the Great War, and during his captivity in Turkey, he kept a record of his observations and feelings about the Ottoman Empire. He published A Prisoner in Turkey as an account of his captivity. On the other hand, Bishop fought in the Kut-Al Amara battles as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army in the early days of the war. He was also taken as a captive on the 29th of April 1916. Through a long journey from Bagdad to Ankara, he reached Kastamonu and stayed there as a prisoner of war for almost two years during which he wrote memoirs about his captivity in Turkey.

References

  • Anonymous, On the Road to Kut: A Soldier’s Story of the Mesopotamian Campaign. London: Hutchinson, 1917.
  • Balcer, Jack Martin. “The Greeks and Persians: The Process of Acculturation.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, vol. 32, no. 3, 1983, pp. 257-267.
  • Bishop, Harry Coghill Watson. A Kut Prisoner. John Lane Co., 1920.
  • Bravo, Christopher Dalante. “Chirping Like the Swallows: Aristophanes’ Portrayals of the Barbarian Other.” Unpublished MA thesis. University of Arizona, 2009.
  • Draper, John. “Shakespeare and the Turk.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 55, no. 4, 1956, pp. 523–532.
  • Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge & The Discovery of Knowledge. Pantheon Books, 1972.
  • ---. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books, 1995.
  • Güllübağ, Mustafa. Gelibolu’nun İngiliz Yazarları. Tiydem, 2016.
  • Hamilton, Jill. From Gallipoli to Gaza: The Desert Poets of World War One. Simon&Schuster, 2003.
  • Hassal, Christopher. Edward Marsh: Patron of the Arts. Longmans, 1959.
  • Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and Remarking the World Order. Simon&Schuster, 1996.
  • Keenan, Tom. “The ‘Paradox’ of Knowledge and Power: Reading Foucault on Bias.” Political Theory, vol. 15, no. 1, 1987, pp. 5-37.
  • Lewis-Stempel, John. The War Behind the Wire: The Life, Death and Glory of British Prisoners of War, 1914-18. Phoenix, 2014.
  • Matar, Nabil. Turks, Moors and Englishmen in the Age of Discovery. Columbia U.P., 1999.
  • ---. British Captives from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic 1563-1710. Brill Leiden, 2014.
  • “Records Details for Harry Coghill Watson Bishop,” https://www.forces-warrecords.co.uk. (Date Accessed: May 2019).
  • Reynardson, H. Birch. Mesopotamia 1914-15. Andrew Melrose Ltd., 1919.
  • Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades, Christianity and Islam. Columbia U.P., 2011.
  • Said, Edward. Orientalism. Penguin, 2003.
  • Shakespeare, William. Othello. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2008.
  • ---. Hamlet. Engin, 2012.
  • Still, John. A Prisoner in Turkey. John Lane Co., 1920.
There are 22 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Literary Studies
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Hasan Baktır 0000-0002-1078-8589

Yasemin Ayan This is me

Publication Date June 25, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Volume: 14 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Baktır, H., & Ayan, Y. (2020). Traces of Orientalist Discourse in World War I: Memoirs of Two British War Prisoners on Ottoman Turkey. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(1), 23-33.

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