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The Use of Orientalist Stereotypes and the Production of Kitsch: Tourism Architecture in Turkey in the Face of Social Change

Year 2013, Volume 1 - Issue 4, 108 - 118, 12.12.2013
https://doi.org/10.14486/IJSCS37

Abstract

This study aims to examine the imposition of an orientalist perspective to architectural productions and intends to show how that perspective creates examples of kitsch by means of its use of orientalist stereotypes. It is acknowledged today that there is a strong inclination in touristic contexts to form and enliven imaginary worlds that conjure superficial ideas about the settings in tourists’ minds, by effectively using architecture. This is specifically true when the touristic settings are located in the so called ‘Orient’ or in contexts that have lineage with orientalist dreams. Such practices by the use of stereotypical orientalist images in architecture give rise to the creation of ‘kitsch’. In this study, these concepts are studied theoretically and exemplified by way of architectural cases from Turkey. The cases are comprised of five specific touristic establishments in Antalya, which are namely the Topkapı Palace World of Wonders, Kempinski Hotel the Dome, Mardan Palace, Crowne Plaza Hotel, and Delphin Palace Hotel. These architectural productions are analyzed formally by in-site survey and discussed as architectural consequences of the orientalist standpoint. It has been found out that the selected touristic establishments consciously use the stylistic stereotypes of the Orient to recall stereotypical Oriental images. In that way they also carry within themselves all of the features that make art works instances of ‘kitsch’. This study suggests that such trials by the use of stereotypical orientalist images in architecture create examples of kitsch. The specific architectural cases are interpreted in this framework as the architectural consequences of the internalization of the orientalist standpoint, and on account of that, as forms of ‘Orientalist Kitsch’.

References

  • Behdad A (1994). Belated Travellers: Orientalism in the Age of Collonial Dissolution. Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Bozdoğan S (1988). “Journey to the East:Ways of Looking at the Orient and the Question of Representation”. Journal of Architectural Education. Volume 41, Number 4.
  • Broch H (1969). “Notes on the Problem of Kitsch”. Kitsch: an Anthology of Bad Taste. Gillo Dorfles ed., London: Studio Vista Limited.
  • Calinescu M (1986). Five Faces of Modernity. Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Culler J (1988). „The Semiotics of Tourism‟. Framing the Sign: Criticism and its Institutions. Basil Blackwell, 155.
  • Dorfles G (1969). Kitsch: an Anthology of Bad Taste. London: Studio Vista Limited.
  • Eco U (1989). “The Structure of Bad Taste”. The Open Work. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Edwards G (2009). “The Mardan Palace Hotel, Turkey: Europe's brashest, wackiest, glitziest resort”. [Online] Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1203838/The-MardanPalace-hotel-Turkey-Europes-brashestGadamer HG (1986). “The Relevance of the Beautiful”. The Relevance of the Beautiful and Other Essays. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Günal A (1998). Orientalism from Travel Literature to the Discourse of Tourism. Unpublished Master‟s Thesis, METU, Ankara.
  • Kennedy V (2000). “Orientalism”. Edward Said: a Critical Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 14-49.
  • Kılıçkıran D (1996). Kitsch and Architecture: The Production of Kitsch in the Architecture of Turkey in 1980’s and 1990’s. Unpublished M.Arch Thesis, ODTU, Ankara.
  • MacCannell D (1976). The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Schocken Books, 43-50.
  • MacKenzie JM (1995). “Orientalism in Architecture”. Orientalism, History, Theory and the Arts. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
  • Poggioli R (1968). “Fashion, Taste and the Public”. The Theory of the Avant-Garde. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press, 79-85.
  • Said EW (1995). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.

The Use of Orientalist Stereotypes and the Production of Kitsch: Tourism Architecture in Turkey in the Face of Social Change

Year 2013, Volume 1 - Issue 4, 108 - 118, 12.12.2013
https://doi.org/10.14486/IJSCS37

Abstract

References

  • Behdad A (1994). Belated Travellers: Orientalism in the Age of Collonial Dissolution. Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Bozdoğan S (1988). “Journey to the East:Ways of Looking at the Orient and the Question of Representation”. Journal of Architectural Education. Volume 41, Number 4.
  • Broch H (1969). “Notes on the Problem of Kitsch”. Kitsch: an Anthology of Bad Taste. Gillo Dorfles ed., London: Studio Vista Limited.
  • Calinescu M (1986). Five Faces of Modernity. Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Culler J (1988). „The Semiotics of Tourism‟. Framing the Sign: Criticism and its Institutions. Basil Blackwell, 155.
  • Dorfles G (1969). Kitsch: an Anthology of Bad Taste. London: Studio Vista Limited.
  • Eco U (1989). “The Structure of Bad Taste”. The Open Work. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Edwards G (2009). “The Mardan Palace Hotel, Turkey: Europe's brashest, wackiest, glitziest resort”. [Online] Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1203838/The-MardanPalace-hotel-Turkey-Europes-brashestGadamer HG (1986). “The Relevance of the Beautiful”. The Relevance of the Beautiful and Other Essays. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Günal A (1998). Orientalism from Travel Literature to the Discourse of Tourism. Unpublished Master‟s Thesis, METU, Ankara.
  • Kennedy V (2000). “Orientalism”. Edward Said: a Critical Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 14-49.
  • Kılıçkıran D (1996). Kitsch and Architecture: The Production of Kitsch in the Architecture of Turkey in 1980’s and 1990’s. Unpublished M.Arch Thesis, ODTU, Ankara.
  • MacCannell D (1976). The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Schocken Books, 43-50.
  • MacKenzie JM (1995). “Orientalism in Architecture”. Orientalism, History, Theory and the Arts. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
  • Poggioli R (1968). “Fashion, Taste and the Public”. The Theory of the Avant-Garde. Cambridge, UK: Harvard University Press, 79-85.
  • Said EW (1995). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
There are 15 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Sports Medicine
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Zeynep Çiğdem This is me

Uysal Ürey This is me

Publication Date December 12, 2013
Published in Issue Year 2013 Volume 1 - Issue 4

Cite

APA Çiğdem, Z., & Ürey, U. (2013). The Use of Orientalist Stereotypes and the Production of Kitsch: Tourism Architecture in Turkey in the Face of Social Change. International Journal of Sport Culture and Science, 1(4), 108-118. https://doi.org/10.14486/IJSCS37
IntJSCS is published by International Science Culture and Sport Association (ISCSA).