SOURCES OF ORIENTALISM: TRACING OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN BRITISH MIND

OpenAlex · İngilizce

Established on three different continents, the Ottoman Empire demonstrated unquestioned political success and constituted the representation of orientalism for the West. Both her geographical position and her cultural identity as an Eastern and a Muslim provided the structure to approach the Ottoman Empire representing the Eastern identity as constructed by the West. Hence, a stereotypical representation of Turks created in order to satisfy the oriental approach of the West. This perspective can be observed in British sources as well. Beyond her exotic qualities for the West, the rival position of the Ottoman Empire against the British Empire provoked further interest in British names. As is common in oriental texts, British sources also reshaped the Turkish identity unconsciously to fit the text’s stereotypical perspective. In addition to the fixed image of Turks and the Ottoman Empire that is depicted underlining Westernized qualities, British written sources do not hesitate to reinterpret the constructed image of Turks as a medium for their own ideologies. In this regard, tracing the British sources and their representation establishes a problematic depiction of the Ottoman Empire and the Turks that is dominated by Western ideology. Moreover, it can be further argued that the literary works also both fed upon and contributed to the stereotypical depiction of Turks as an exotic eastern. Travel writing of the time also maintained the perception of Turkish identity representing the constructed understanding of the West regarding the East. Consequently, this study aims at tracing the stereotypical image of Turks as depicted in British sources especially with emphasis of sources dating to the 19th century as the highlight of Orientalism in British Empire. Hence, the misinterpretation of the Ottoman Empire and Turks will be laid out in a chronological order underlining their common perspective.