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On Dokuzuncu Yüzyıl Batı/Amerikan Popüler Edebiyatında Türkofobi ve İslamofobi: Her Rescue from the Turks Romanının Oryantalist Okuması

Year 2019, , 23 - 46, 28.06.2019
https://doi.org/10.32704/erdem.572790

Abstract

Öz



Bu
makale, on dokuzuncu yüzyıl sonunda Amerikan popüler kültüründe gözlemlenen ve
İslamofobik ve Türkofobik tutumların sürdürülmesinde etkili olan görüntü ve
temsillerin, St. George Rathborne'un (1854-1938) Her Rescue From the Turks (1896) adlı popüler romanındaki
yansımalarının ayrıntılı bir incelemesidir. Macera-aşk romanı formatında
sunulan anlatı edebi açıdan zayıf olsa da ucuz şovenist, erotik ve egzotik
roman tarzının geniş okur kitleleri nezdindeki popülaritesi göz önüne
alındığında, bu gibi az bilinen ve hiç çalışılmamış olan on dokuzuncu yüzyıla
ait kültürel metinleri dikkate sunmak—bu örnekte Türkler ve Türk-İslam kültürü
üzerinden— Batı’nın yabancı bir kültüre ve insan topluluğuna karşı tutumunu
daha iyi kavramak açısından önem arz etmektedir. Bu doğrultuda, bu metinde
gözlemlenen Türk öteki hakkında klişeleşmiş algıları tanımlamak, günümüz
Hollywood filmlerinde Doğu hakkında oluşturulan sinematik kodlarının  (örneğin karakter gelişiminde, olay örgüsünde
ve mekan tasvirinde) nereden kaynaklandığını ve nasıl sürdürüldüğünü anlamak
açısından da anlamlı olacaktır. Metin incelemesi sonucunda kısaca şu sonuçlara
varılabilir: Oryantalist temsiller sayesinde, Rahtborne’un popüler romantik
romanı İç Savaş sonrası Amerikan vatanseverliğinin şovenist bir kutlaması;
Hristiyanlıktan aşağı konumlandırılmak suretiyle tavizsiz bir İslam karşıtlığı;
yanlış biçimlendirilmiş Doğulu kadın ve harem temsili üzerinden Batı kadını
için sahte üstünlük yaratma girişimi; ve “ileri ve rasyonel” Amerikalı Batılı
karşısında “geri ve ilkel” bir Osmanlı Türk öteki oluşturma gayreti olarak
okunabilir. 

References

  • Asbridge, Thomas (2011). The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, New York: Ecco Harper Collins.
  • Barın Akman, Filiz (2018). Ottoman Women - In the Eyes of Western Travelers, Istanbul: Kopernik.
  • Diner, Steven J. (1997). A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era, New York: Hill and Wang.
  • Esposito, John, and Ibrahim Kalın, eds. (2011). Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Esposito John and Dalia Mogahed (2007). Who Speaks for Islam?, New York: Gallup Press.
  • İnalcık, Halil (2001). The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, New York:Phoenix Press.
  • MacKenzie, John M. (1995). Orientalism: History, Theory and the Arts, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Melman, Billie (1992). Women’s Orients: English Women and the Middle East, 1718-1918: Sexuality, Religion and Work, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Palmer, Alan (2011).The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, New York: Fall River Press.
  • Peirce, Leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Perkin John (1993). Victorian Women, New York: New York University Press. Rathborne, S. George (1896). Her Rescue from the Turks: a novel, New York City: The Hobart Co.
  • Shaheen, J. (2003). “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People”, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588, 171-193. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049860
  • Said, Edward (1979). Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books.
  • Said, Edward (1997). Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World, New York: Vintage Books. Swallow, Charles (1973). Sick Man of Europe: Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic, 1789-1923, London: Ernest Benn Ltd.
  • Williams, Haydn (2014). Turquerie: An Eighteenth Century European Fantasy, New York: Thames and Hudson.

Turkophobia and Islamophobia in the Nineteenth Century Western/American Popular Fiction: An Orientalist Reading of Her Rescue from the Turks (1896)

Year 2019, , 23 - 46, 28.06.2019
https://doi.org/10.32704/erdem.572790

Abstract

Abstract

Turkophobia and Islamophobia in the Nineteenth Century Western/
American Popular
Fiction: An Orienttalist Reading of Her Rescue from the Turks (1896)



This
article will be an examination of the images and representations, catalyst in
perpetuation of both Islamophobia and Turkophobia, maintained in American
popular culture at the end of the nineteenth century, by a close study of St.
George Rathborne’s (1854-1938) popular dime novel Her Rescue from the Turks (1896). Even though the narrative in the
format of romance in this study is a clear example of a poor literary taste,
given the popularity of cheap chauvinistic, erotic and exotic romances with the
general populace and therefore its wide readership, bringing these
now-lesser-known nineteenth century cultural texts to attention is important in
terms of forming a better picture about the West’s stance against a foreign
culture and a people, namely the Turks and Turkish culture at that point of
history. By identifying the stereotypical conception of the Turkish other in a
nineteenth century text, it will surely be a meaningful observation to see
where the modern Hollywood’s cinematic codes about the East (e.g. in character
development, plot and setting) are based and how they are sustained. The paper
concludes the following: The popular romance of Rathborne’s, due to its
Orientalist perceptions, becomes a jingoistic and chauvinistic celebration of
the American patriotism; an unrelentingly demeaning portrayal of Islam as
inferior to Christianity; a misinformed representation of Oriental women and
the harem only serving to the creation of a false sense of superiority for
their Western counterparts; and a view of irredeemably backward and primitive
Ottoman Turkish culture in opposition to an advanced and rational American
West.

References

  • Asbridge, Thomas (2011). The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, New York: Ecco Harper Collins.
  • Barın Akman, Filiz (2018). Ottoman Women - In the Eyes of Western Travelers, Istanbul: Kopernik.
  • Diner, Steven J. (1997). A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era, New York: Hill and Wang.
  • Esposito, John, and Ibrahim Kalın, eds. (2011). Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Esposito John and Dalia Mogahed (2007). Who Speaks for Islam?, New York: Gallup Press.
  • İnalcık, Halil (2001). The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, New York:Phoenix Press.
  • MacKenzie, John M. (1995). Orientalism: History, Theory and the Arts, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Melman, Billie (1992). Women’s Orients: English Women and the Middle East, 1718-1918: Sexuality, Religion and Work, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Palmer, Alan (2011).The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, New York: Fall River Press.
  • Peirce, Leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Perkin John (1993). Victorian Women, New York: New York University Press. Rathborne, S. George (1896). Her Rescue from the Turks: a novel, New York City: The Hobart Co.
  • Shaheen, J. (2003). “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People”, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588, 171-193. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049860
  • Said, Edward (1979). Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books.
  • Said, Edward (1997). Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World, New York: Vintage Books. Swallow, Charles (1973). Sick Man of Europe: Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic, 1789-1923, London: Ernest Benn Ltd.
  • Williams, Haydn (2014). Turquerie: An Eighteenth Century European Fantasy, New York: Thames and Hudson.
There are 15 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Erdem
Authors

Filiz Barın Akman 0000-0003-1893-9609

Publication Date June 28, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019

Cite

APA Barın Akman, F. (2019). Turkophobia and Islamophobia in the Nineteenth Century Western/American Popular Fiction: An Orientalist Reading of Her Rescue from the Turks (1896). Erdem(76), 23-46. https://doi.org/10.32704/erdem.572790

ERDEM Dergisi TR Dizin, MLA International Bibliography, EBSCOhost, SOBIAD, ASI (Advanced Science Index) İSAM, DAVET, AYK Dergi Dizini ve Academindex tarafından dizinlenmektedir.

ERDEM Journal is indexed by TR Dizin, MLA International Bibliography, EBSCOhost, SOBIAD, ASI (Advanced Science Index) ISAM, DAVET, AYK Journal Index and Academindex.