“Turned Turk, and died a slave”: A New Historicist Reading of A Christian Turned Turk by Robert Daborne

Öz

New Historicism provides a critical look for the narrative focusing on its historical background with a claim that a text is not independent from its era. The method emphasises the significance of understanding the power relations and dynamics within the society when interpreting literary works and it argues that literary works nourish from the social and cultural atmosphere to which they belong. Since the texts are the “part of the political, religious and social institutions that form, control and limit them”, they cannot be evaluated as separate units (Berghahn 1992, 145). Therefore, the new historicists seek to reshape a text in historical discourse in order to procure realistic interpretations. From this perspective, this paper states that degrading the motives for conversion to sexual propensity of John Ward, Robert Daborne masks the real causes behind conversion in A Christian Turned Turk like many other Elizabethan playwrights who stimulate hatred towards Turks and Islam in their plays since they saw them as a growing threat to Christianity. Virtually, the play displays the common anxiety resulting from the growing number of English people converting to Islam in the seventeenth century. Being a cleric himself, Daborne’s social status deserves consideration while interpreting the play in order to understand his intentions behind his aim of picturing the convert with a tragic ending. Regarding the new historicist notion of examining the relationship between the author, the text and history, it is argued in the study that the playwright’s justification for Ward’s conversion is not realistic and that he distorted the historical facts intentionally for the purpose of defaming Turks in the public eye.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Drama
• Apostasy
• Turning Turk
• Piracy
• Christianity

Etik Beyan

Etik kurul gerektirmemektedir

Turned Turk, and died a slave: A New Historicist Reading of A Christian Turned Turk by Robert Daborne

Öz

New Historicism provides a critical look for the narrative focusing on its historical background with a claim that a text is not independent from its era. The method emphasises the significance of understanding the power relations and dynamics within the society when interpreting literary works and it argues that literary works nourish from the social and cultural atmosphere to which they belong. Since the texts are the “part of the political, religious and social institutions that form, control and limit them”, they cannot be evaluated as separate units (Berghahn 1992, 145). Therefore, the new historicists seek to reshape a text in historical discourse in order to procure realistic interpretations. From this perspective, this paper states that degrading the motives for conversion to sexual propensity of John Ward, Robert Daborne masks the real causes behind conversion in A Christian Turned Turk like many other Elizabethan playwrights who stimulate hatred towards Turks and Islam in their plays since they saw them as a growing threat to Christianity. Virtually, the play displays the common anxiety resulting from the growing number of English people converting to Islam in the seventeenth century. Being a cleric himself, Daborne’s social status deserves consideration while interpreting the play in order to understand his intentions behind his aim of picturing the convert with a tragic ending. Regarding the new historicist notion of examining the relationship between the author, the text and history, it is argued in the study that the playwright’s justification for Ward’s conversion is not realistic and that he distorted the historical facts intentionally for the purpose of defaming Turks in the public eye.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Drama
• Apostasy
• Turning Turk
• Piracy
• Christianity

Kaynakça

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