Historical Image of the Turk in Europe, 15th Century to the Present: Political and Civilisational Aspects 9781463225483

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Historical Image of the Turk in Europe, 15th Century to the Present

Analecta Isisiana: Ottoman and Turkish Studies

A co-publication with The Isis Press, Istanbul, the series consists of collections of thematic essays focused on specific themes of Ottoman and Turkish studies. These scholarly volumes address important issues throughout Turkish history, offering in a single volume the accumulated insights of a single author over a career of research on the subject.

Historical Image of the Turk in Europe, 15th Century to the Present

Political and Civilisational Aspects

Mustafa Soykut

1 The Isis Press, Istanbul

gorgiaS preSS 2010

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2010 by The Isis Press, Istanbul Originally published in 2003 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of The Isis Press, Istanbul. 2010

ISBN 978-1-61719-093-3

Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION by Mustafa Soykut

7

Part I: The concept "Turk" from the Ottoman point of view. Mehmet Kalpakli: TURK and OTTOMAN: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THEIR IMAGES IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

13

Part II: A General Outlook Nedret Kuran Bureoglu: A GLIMPSE AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE TURK IN EUROPE: l5™ TO 21st CENTURIES

21

Part III: An Italian Point of View: Papal and Venetian Documents Mustafa Soykut: THE "TURK" AS "THE GREAT ENEMY OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION" AND THE CHANGING IMAGE IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE SECOND SIEGE OF VIENNA: (IN THE LIGHT OF ITALIAN DOCUMENTS POLITICAL LITERATURE) Gaetano Platania: THE TURKISH THREAT AND THE CRUSADING IN THE PAPAL POLICY OF THE AGE IN THE STUDY OF SOME UNPUBLISHED WORKS OF LAY OR RELIGIOUS AUTHORS CENTURIES)

45

IDEA OF MODERN OR RARE (15TH-17TH 117

Part IV: The Renaissance Debate Suheyla Artemel: VIEW OF THE TURKS PERSPECTIVE OF THE HUMANISTS IN ENGLAND

FROM THE RENAISSANCE

Deniz §engel: SOURCES AND CONTEXT OF THE RENAISSANCE HISTORIOGRAPHY CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF TURKS

149

175

6

HISTORICAL

IMAGE

OF THE

TURK

NazanAksoy \ TURKS IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA

197

Part V: 17 th and 18 th Century British Views Fiona Tomkinson: FOR THE SATISFACTION OF ALL THAT DESIRE TO LOOK INTO THE TURKISH VANITIES': IMAGES OF THE TURK IN SEVENTEENTHCENTURY ENGLAND

211

Ash Cirakman: SIR PAUL RYCAUT AND HIS INFLUENCE THE 18™ CENTURY THOUGHT ON THE TURKS

227

ON

Part VI: Image of an non-Muslim Ottoman People: the Jews Arusyak Yumul: THE PERENNIAL JEWISH BODY

IMMUTABILITY

OF THE 247

Part VII: From the Turkish Republic to the Present Nur Bilge Criss: IMAGES OF THE EARLY TURKISH MOVEMENT (1919-1921)

NATIONAL 259

Mediha Göbenli: THE IMAGES OF TURKISH MIGRANTS IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY: FROM "GUEST WORKER" TO A MINORITY

287

Korkut Bugday: THE IMAGE OF TURKEY REFLECTED IN THE GERMAN MAGAZINE "DER SPIEGEL"

295

Kamil Aydin: A POPULAR REPRESENTATION OF TURKEY INTO THE 21st CENTURY: FROM VERBAL TO VISUAL

309

INTRODUCTION

The present book was inspired by the conference entitled «IMAGE OF THE "TURK" IN EUROPE: 15th Century to the Present» organised by the Department of History, Middle East Technical University, held on 12-13 November, 2001 Ankara. Later on, other papers were added to the study, contributed by concerned scholars in the area of image studies in Turkey and abroad. This book aims at underlining the historic reasons in the creation of image of the "Turk" in Europe from the fifteenth century to the present. The subject period of the book is chosen due to the importance of the fifteenth century in the relations between Europe and the Ottoman Empire, the fifteenth century being the century where the Ottoman Empire emerged as a formidable European power threatening the political structure of Europe with its military and state organisation which it inherited in the unique synthetic form of the B y zan ti ne-Turkic-I si ami c structure. Europe saw a long period of political fragmentation among the states which constituted the so called universitas Christiana, in other words Christendom, whose only real antithesis after the later fourteenth century was a Muslim state — and not an "Islamic state" as one thinks of today — which was the Ottoman Empire. The historic reasons lying behind the controversy between the two religions stem from the mutually exclusive claims of both Christianity and that of Islam of being a world religion which represents the divine revelation in its final and exclusive form. However, these theological considerations took a political form in the real sense since the beginning of the confrontations between the two religions. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marks an emotionally charged date which put an end to the Byzantine Empire. However, more important was perhaps the realisation of various European states of how imminent the Turkish threat was. Seen from the European point of view, the Ottoman Empire looked disciplined, militarily formidable and invincible under the firm rule of the unitary state of the Sultans. There has been an abundance of political literature on this powerful aspect of the Ottoman State, which in the eye of the Europeans seemed to have combined the majestic past "heresy" and rivalry of the Byzantines as well as the vigour of the so-called newly emerging "Asiatic barbarians". In fact this was not only a mere image, but held within it a substantial element of truth as well as dynamics of continuity between the Eastern Roman Empire, later known to be Byzantium and the Ottoman State. It was not by coincidence that Mehmed II, the Conqueror of Constantinople was the first Ottoman sultan to have called himself "Kayser-i diyar-i Rum", in other words

8

HISTORICAL

IMAGE

OF

THE

TURK

"Caesar of the Roman lands". Although this title was not used by the successors of Mehmed, there is ample continuity in the state tradition between the Byzantine and the Ottoman States. It is not a coincidence that the Ecumenic Patriarchate of Constantinople under the authority of the Byzantine Empire continued in the Ottoman Empire and the rivalry between the Eastern and the Western churches was transformed this time into the rivalry between the Catholic Church under the Pope and the Orthodox Church under the patronage of the Ottoman Sultan. Another important political reason for the creation of the "otherness" image was the political diversity between Western and Eastern Christendom which have had different political histories altogether. The West was characterised by the "divergence of forces" between the temporal and the religious authorities in the Middle Ages and much of the Early Modern Age, which later on gave birth to the Western concept of secularism in the Contemporary Age. That is to say, the continual historic divergence of authority, power and interest between the Pope as head of the sacerdotium and the Emperor as the head of the imperium. In fact it was largely due to this divergence that in the European perception, there was a socalled caesaro-papism in the Byzantine Empire, that is, a substantial subordination of the Church to the Emperor and to a minor extent vice versa, a case which was scandalous for the political theoretician of the West. This so-called caesaro-papism, that is the co-operation, rivalry and the mingling between the temporal authority and the religious corpus and the control of the former over the latter was as natural for the Ottoman rulers as it was for their Byzantine predecessors. This perceived "unfit" political structure of the "oriental states" gave birth later on starting with the Renaissance and culminating in the nineteenth century to the idea of a "despotic" oriental state, in front of which, the superiority of the Western institutions and Weltanschauung was undisputedly taken for granted. Oddly enough, these very targets of criticism in the oriental states were also object of envy and from time to time given as examples to be followed by European intellectuals and political theoreticians starting from the Renaissance and the heyday of confrontation and interaction between the Ottoman Empire and Europe following the Ottoman conquests in Eastern Europe and the fall of Constantinople. A s opposed to these politically united oriental despotates, Christendom looked politically fragmented, militarily weak and disorganised in front of the ever-expanding Ottomans. In contrast, the European states politically did not share much in common but a European culture based on the re-interpretation of antiquity — called Renaissance — and the common religion, Christianity. In this sense, the rival culture which was the Islamic one, represented by the Arabs and their presence in Sicily until the eleventh century and until the fifteenth century in Spain, began to be represented by the Ottoman Turks beginning with the fifteenth century.

INTRODUCTION

9

The image created of the "Turk" in Europe from then on, especially until the end of the seventeenth century, produced a unique rhetoric on the political, cultural as well as the literary spheres. The present book aims at shedding light on the political and cultural spheres of the aforementioned rhetoric. In other words, this book aims at focusing on the so-called "clash of civilisations" put forward by the American scholar Samuel Huntington. As will be seen, the same "clash of civilisations" rhetoric was put forward by the men of Renaissance, to be followed by Enlightenment, the Romantics and the Contemporary Age and by political theoreticians of various European states as well as by the intelligentsia in five centuries of European cultural and political history, literature and arts. As it naturally follows, there could be many parallels drawn between the centuries-old "clash of civilizations" rhetoric and the ongoing clashes in the Middle East, put at first as a war between the Muslim and the Christian worlds as a slip of the tongue by the US President and then as a war of the free world to liberate the "unfree" one, where one hears almost identical lines in the writings of politicians and intelligentsia of five centuries before in the following pages. Needless to say, this book also attempts to give certain insights on the Turkish-EU relations seen f r o m historical and civilisational points of view. In this respect, c n e is not surprised to see the same expressions used in the Age of Renaissance or Enlightenment, which was then carried into the colonial age and into the very present day in the interactions between Occident and the Orient. The first part of the book gives an expose of the meanings and connotations of the word "Turk" for the Ottomans and for those whom the Ottomans called "Turks". The second part is an overview of the development stages of image of the Turk in Europe from the eleventh century to the present day. The third part is an analysis of the importance of Italian, that is Papal and Venetian policies towards the Ottoman Empire and the political and cultural image created by the important actors of the Catholic world. The fourth part studies the Renaissance image of the Turk and the literal and historiographical representations created around it. The fifth is a seventeenth and eighteenth century British view of the cultural and political representations of the Ottomans. The sixth part is a study setting an example to the European views of one of the non-Muslim Ottoman peoples, namely the Ottoman Jews. The seventh part is a miscellany of the Turkish image created in Europe from the time of the new Turkish Republic, to the present day press representations, Turkish minority in Germany and media images.

10

HISTORICAL

IMAGE

OF

THE

TURK

Most of the contributors to the present book have been participants in the aforementioned conference, in addition to other prominent scholars who have contributed to the book expressing their own views on the subjects, who have made extensive and years-long research either on the discipline of imagology, philology, history, humanities or social sciences. This book — although not the first one on the study of imagology in Turkey — claims to be a well-documented and comprehensive, though not exhaustive, study on the subject "image of the l urk" made in Turkey along the line of previous contributions of established scholars and their studies such as those of Nedret Kuran Burgoglu 1 , Siiheyla Artemel, Onur Bilge Kula, 2 and Umit Giirol 3 . It is my hope that the present study will not only pioneer more extensive and in-depth study of imagology concerning the "Turkish image" in Turkey and abroad, but also make an indispensable contribution to an area hitherto largely unexplored by a congregation of scholars of different disciplines as well as policy-makers.

Mustafa Soykut Ankara, June 2003

' Nedret Kuran Bur?oglu (ed.), The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Republic in 1923 to the 1990s. Proceedings of the Workshop held on 5-6^ March 1999 at CECES, Bogazigi University, (Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2000) 2 Onur Bilge Kula, Alman KUltiiriinde Turk Imgesi, (Ankara: Gtindogan Yayinlari, 1993). 3 .. . Umit Giirol, Italyan Edebiyatmda Turkler (Bajlangicindan 1982'ye), (Ankara: Imge Kitabevi Yayinlari, 1987).

TURK AND OTTOMAN: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THEIR IMAGES IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Mehmet KALPAKLI

The effort to establish a comprehensive dominant identity (Osmanli) instead of national identities was the official policy of the Ottoman Empire. This effort is reflected in the literary texts of Ottoman intellectuals. In this short study, I will try to trace the approach of the Ottoman ruling class to the largest ethnic group of the Empire and the response of the masses to the Ottoman elites in the light of the meaning of the words "Türk" and "Osmanli" found in literary texts. The new and dominant identity created by the Ottomans is in reality an expression of the Ottoman mentality and self-perception. In this context, it would be appropriate to describe the identity of the Ottomans as an identity transcending all ethnic, social and economic identities, or an identity comprising all the above mentioned elements at the same time; this is to say, as a comprehensive dominant identity, the identity of ruling class. This qualification, as a natural consequence, did lead to a sharp distinction between the identity of the rulers (the Ottomans) and the identity of the ruled (the "reaya"). The Ottoman elites regarded themselves as detached from their ethnic identities and as distinct from the rest of the population, but they would describe the populace, especially the urban populace, by their ethnic origins, and thus the name "Türk" came to stand for "non-urban, rural, ignorant, common and nomadic." Ottoman literature was a literature created by an elite class which was either educated in the medrese or in the military or official institutions of the Empire. This class was trained in the languages and concepts of the Arabic and especially Persian cultures. These cultures which had a very strong influence on the educational and cultural life of the Ottomans who, during their formative years, studied the works of Persian poets, and as a result internalized the negative meanings carried by the name "Türk", such as "cruel, tyrant, blood-shedder, torturer." As a matter of fact, these educated/intellectual Ottomans were able to detach themselves very easily from their ethnic identities partly because of the differences which accompanied their special status, such as their being urban, intellectual and identified with authority, and also because of differences, linked to their way of life and the concepts

14

M E H M E T

K A L P A K L I

provided by their linguistic universe, which allowed them to substitute for ethnicity a broader Muslim identity. Thus, it could be said that some of the main reasons lying behind the negative use by the Ottomans of the word "Turk" can be traced back to the influence of Persian culture and cultural concepts. It is true that there existed a Persian-Turkish conflict which is reflected in all these humiliating and derogatory appelations. However, what is more interesting to note is the adoption by the Ottoman-Turkish poets of the perspective of Persian literature. The reasons of this phenomenon ought to be sought in the efforts by the administration to substitute religion for ethnic nationality as an identity appropriate to the structure and policy of the Empire. It is for this reason that the expression "millet" came to mean religious rather than national community. The Ottomans, especially when speaking of the minorities, used the word "m/Z/ei" (millet-i iseviye, millet-i Yehudi) and made an effort to use the word "taife" (group) ( t a i f e - i Kizilba§) for those Muslims who did not fit the Sunni-Islamic identity of the Empire. The Ottoman policy of conquest anticipated tolerance for the people of different ethnic backgrounds living in the conquered areas. Thus, the Empire which was made up of various ethnic identities replaced race with religion, in order to create an affinity and solidarity for its peoples. This formed the basic metaphor of empire. Sunni-Islam became the identity of the Ottomans and a new language, the Ottoman language (lisan-i Osmani), made up of ArabicPersian-Turkish, become the language of the Empire. In this way, the Ottomans created a new order which was not based on the dominance of any ethnic group and was tolerant of other monotheistic religions. As a matter of fact, it would have been improper on the part of the Ottoman rulers, who bore the titles of both Caliph of Islam and the Sultan of the Empire, to keep the ethnic identity of the ruling class at the forefront. Ottoman poets reflected the attitude of the administrating elites, by adopting its viewpoint which regarded ethnic identities as non-existent and looking down upon its own ethnic origins. If we add the Persian influence which has been mentioned above, this "alienation" f r o m self and its belittlement as an "other" can be better understood. The word "Turk" which was used at the beginning in such meanings as "nomad and peasant", later on departed f r o m these meanings and came to be used to mean "stupid, dull-witted" (aptal, idraksiz)}

The Seijukids who had an established order in Anatolia before the Ottomans, used the word "Turk" to distinguish themselves from the nomadic Turcoman tribes and from those who were non-urban.

TURK

AND

15

OTTOMAN

In his work Ta'rifat in which he describes the social strata of the 16 th century, the poet Fakir? says: 1

Nedir bildin mi sen alemde Turk'it Ola egninde kiirku, basinda borkii Ne mezheb bile, ne din, ne diyanet Yumaz yiiztin ne abdest u taharet Did you know who is the Turk in this world The one who has f u r on his back and a f u r hat on his head He docs not know about religion or mezhep

(religious sects) or piety

N e v e r washes his f a c e , p e r f o r m a b l u t i o n s ( a b d e s t ) or taharet

(cleanse

himself)

Hay re Li, a poet of the 16th century says: Mahrem

idinme kendine

her Tiirk-tab'i

Elbette ahmak olanin olmaz

2

kim

sadakati

Do not be intimate with one who is "Turk-natured" Certainly, the one w h o is foolish does not have fidelity.

While the Ottomans regarded those who did not belong to a settled order or those who were peasants as the "other", the populace (reaya) in turn perceived the dominant ruling class as the "other". For the populace, "Ottoman" came to stand for the name of dominant group, of an urban class distinct from themselves. We do not possess enough material to demonstrate the point of view of the population towards the Ottomans simply because the literary tradition of the common people was oral and did not leave a written record. Existing texts are generally those which reflect the point of view of Alevi poets toward the Ottomans, especially those texts in which the term "Ottoman" refers either to sunni peasants or to the sunni population as a whole. Another important reason underlying the inability of the population to criticize the Ottomans in an open manner, and especially the inability to put such criticism into writing, is the Ottoman adoption of a religious identity. Criticizing the Ottomans would mean criticizing the religion of Islam. Nevertheless, the poets of the nomadic peoples, such as Dadaloglu, rebelled against the order imposed by the Ottomans, and expressed the reaction of the society in which they lived in their poems as follows: 1 Agah Sim Levend, Divan Edehiyati, Istanbul 1984, p. 597. Hayreti, Divan, (eds. Mehmed £avu§oglu, M. Ali Tanyeri), Istanbul, 1981, p. 414.

2

16

MEHMET Ferman padigahin daglar

KALPAKLI

bizimdir

Order belongs to the Sultan and mountains belong to us.

The following saying was quite famous among the Anatolian population which had been oppressed by Ottoman taxation: §alvari §altak Osmanh Egeri kaltak Osmanli Ekende yok, bigende yok Yiyende ortak Osmanli' The Ottoman, he wears shameless pants The Ottoman has a saddle with padding He does not harvest, and never plants But the Ottoman is your partner in eating.

Ahmed Midhat Efendi, one of the prominent thinkers of the Tanzimat era, describes "Osmanlihk" (Ottoman-ness) in his Uss-i inkilab:2 O s m a n h h k (Ottoman-ness) lies in considering as the fundamental policy of affiliation the demonstration of allegiance f i r s t to his excellency Gazi Ertugrul Beg-zade Osman, his imperial majesty, as heir to the greatest and most righteous dynasty of imperial dignity. With regard to this membership, there lies n o harm in belonging to any religion or religious creed whatsoever, since this great Ottoman system has undertaken the protection of all great religions in order to render them freer than they were in their former situation. There is no harm in belonging to any nation or ethnic group since this Ottoman system, more than undertaking the preservation of the liberty of every people of different nations or ethnic groups and making them freer than they were in their former situations, as the basis of its authority has come to count these above-mentioned people as the real Ottomans. Therefore, all those civilized peoples who gather under the Ottoman flag are called ' O t t o m a n ' and the state governing them as 'the exalted O t t o m a n Empire'.-^

1 Mehmet Kalpakh, "Osmanh Edebi Metinlerine Göre Türkliik ve Osmanhlik", Tarih ve Milliyetgìlìk: I. Ulusal Tarih Kongresi Bildirileri, Mersin, 1999, p. 90. 2 Ahmed Midhat Efendi, Üss-i inkilab, Istanbul, Takvimhane-i Amire, 1294/ 1877. ibid. p. 11. "Osmanhlik, Oguz Kara Han nesl-i celllinden Gazi Ertugrul Beg-zäde Osman Gazi hazretlerinin zatlarina ve andan sonra bu hanedan-i gevket-unvänin ekber ve erged varisi olarak bi'l-fi'I htikumdär bulunan zat-i gevket-simàta täbi'yeti mensübiyct-i asllye-i siyäsiye bilmekden ibäretdir. Bu mensübiyet ifin her hangi dinde, her hangi mezhebde bulunur ise bulunsun hi9 bir beis yokdur. Zirä, bu hey'et-i muazzama-i Osmaniye kendi himäyesi altina aldigi edyän-i mü§tehirenin käffesini bunlarin en serbest olarak icrä-yi hükm ettikleri yerlerden daha serbest olmak üzere himäyeyi deruhte eylemigdir. Bu mensflbiyet-i celile i?in her hangi milliyet ve kavmiyette bulunulursa bulunulsun yine bir beis yokdur. Zirä bu hey'et-i celfle-i Osmaniye kendi himäyesi altina aldigi her milliyet ve kavmiyet erbäbim bu himäyeden evvel ne kadar hür iseler ondan daha hür olarak muhafaza etmegi deruhte eyledikden fazla, o halki en asil Osmanli gibi mütaälaa etmegi dahi hükümet binäsinm temeli addeylemigtir."

TURK

AND

OTTOMAN

17

There are a n u m b e r of points here that are worthy of attention. First, there is n o mention of "Turkliik" (Turkish-ness). That is to say that being Turk was in no manner a condition of being Ottoman. Then, there is another point which he stresses: one does not need to belong to any particular religion, religious creed or ethnic group in order to be O t t o m a n . A s he mentions in his last sentence, all civilized (what he means by this is settled) individuals who gather under the Ottoman flag, are called " O t t o m a n " without regard to religion, creed, ethnic origin, or nationality. In reality there exists an identity of religious community (timmet) of the Ottomans which continued until the middle of the 19 t h century. A l t h o u g h there existed a n u m b e r of religions in the E m p i r e , the d o m i n a n t o n e was Islam and the O t t o m a n s identified themselves with this religion for six hundred years. All those w h o remained outside the Sunni-Islam-urban-intellectual categorization were considered as the "other". The 19 th century witnessed the creation of a new ideology, " O s m a n h l i k " (Ottomanness), as a reaction against the dissolution of the Empire, the division of the ethnic groups and the efforts of various millets to gain independence. When this ideology did not prove to be efficient, the idea of Pan-Islamism was developed. However, all these ideologies failed to prevent the fall of the Empire. The ideology of Pan-Turkism, like "Turkliik" (Turkishness) instead of " O s m a n l i l i k " ( O t t o m a n n e s s ) and the unity of all Turks (an identity denied by the Ottomans for centuries) which emerged during the last years of the Empire, remained inefficient as well. Tiirkluk would only become a unifying element of the people during the W a r of Independence. It replaced the comprehensive dominant identity of what the Ottomans called timmet (religious community). With the words of M u s t a f a K e m a l Atattirk, the f o u n d e r of the Turkish Republic: Ne mutlu Tiirkum diyenel ( H o w happy is he w h o calls himself a T u r k ) , Turkliik encompassed all the ethnic groups living in Republican Turkey.

References: Adivar, Halide Edib; "Imperialist Ottoman v.s. Turk", in Turkey Faces West, London: 1930, 29-48. Aydin, Suavi; Kimlik Sorunu, Ulusallik ve Turk Kimligi, Ankara: 1998. Bayat, A. Haydar; "Ali Beg Hiiseyinzade ve En Onemli Yazilarindan: 'Turkler Kimdir ve Kimlerden Ibarettir' [1905]", Turk Dtinyasi Arastirmalari, 106, §ubat 1997. Bilgin, Nuri (ed.); Cumhuriyet, Demokrasi ve Kimlik, Istanbul: 1997. Erkiner, Ergin; "Kimlik ve Turk Kimligi", Yazm, 74, Ocak 1997, 8-13. Eytiboglu, E. Kemal; "Tiirk Sozciigunun Kokeni ve Tarih Boyunca Ge§irdigi Anlam Degigiklikleri", in §iirde ve Halk Dilinde Atasozleri ve Deyimler, cilt: I, Istanbul: 1973, XXV-XLIII.

18

MEHMET

KALPAKLI

Gökdemir, Ayvaz; Türk Kimligi, Ankara: 1990. Güveng, Bozkurt; Türk Kimligi, Ankara: 1994. Halacoglu, Yusuf; "Osmanli Belgelerine Göre Türk-Eträk, Kürd-Ekräd Kelimeleri Üzerine Bir Degerlendirme", Belleten, LX, 227, Nisan 1996, 139-154. Kafesoglu, Ibrahim; Türk Milli Kültürü, Ankara, 1977. Kalpakh, Mehmet; "Osmanli Edebi Metinlerine Göre Türklük ve Osmanhlik", Tarih ve Milliyetfilik: I. Ulusal Tarih Kongresi Bildirileri, Mersin, 1999, 75-90. Köprülii, M. Fuat; "Osmanli ìmparatorlugunun Etnik Menaci Meselesi", Belleten, VII, 1943, 219-303. Köprülü, M. Fuat; "Eski Devirlerde Türk'ü Nasil Telakki Ederlerdi?", Köprülüden Sefmeler, (ed. Orhan F. Köprülü), Ankara: 1990, 84-88. Kuran, Ercüment; "Türk Adi ve Türklük Kavrami", in Türkiye 'nin Batilila$masi ve Milli Meseleler, Ankara: 1994. Mazioglu, Hasibe; "Osmanlicada Türk Sözcügü", Türk Dili, 500, Agustos 1993. Moravcsik, J.; "Kavim Adi Olarak 'Türk' Hakkinda Bizansli Hümanistlerin Görü§leri"(trans. E. Bengi Özbilen), Türk Dünyasi Ara$tirmalari, 101, Nisan 1996, 9-12. Pala, Iskender; "Osmanh'dan Cumhuriyete Siirdc Türk Kimligi", Yeni Türkiye, 13, Aralik 1998. §en, Sabahattin; Türk Aydini ve Kimlik Sorunu, Istanbul: 1995. Taneri, Aydm; Tarihte Türklük Kavramimn Geli§mesi, Ankara, 1993. Timur, Taner; Osmanli Kimligi, Istanbul: 1986. Timur, Taner; Osmanli-Türk Romaninda Tarih, Toplum ve Kimlik, Istanbul: 1991. Togan, isenbike; "Geni§ ve Dar Anlamda Türk Adi ve Tarihi Geligimi Üzerine", Tarih Qevresi, 11.

A GLIMPSE AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE TURK IN EUROPE: 1 5 t h TO 2 1 s t CENTURIES Nedret KURAN-BURÇOGLU

I. Introduction: Image Studies Image Studies, or "Imagology", as it was originally coined by French comparatists in the first half of the 20 th century, studies images of the "other" country / nation / group of people, etc. synchronically as well as diachronically, and investigates the socio-cultural reasons that are instrumental in the creation and transformation of these images from a "supranational" and "unbiased perspective". "Comparative Imagology" 1 investigates mutual images of the countries / nations / groups of people, etc. These are research fields, that have developed out of comparative literature, in the 1940s by the French comparatists Fernand Baldensperger and his disciple Jean Marie Carré. For this reason the material which was analyzed mainly comprised literary texts, such as narratives, ballads, drama, folk songs, travel accounts, memoires, etc. However, in the course of time the scope of the investigation area of Imagology has extended to cover not only literary but also visual and audio-visual sources. By deconstructing images Imagology aims to reveal concealed facts that may lie behind the images, as well as create an awareness of the stereotypes and clichés to which biased images can lead. In doing so it also serves to further the cause of peace in the world.

For detailed information about the study field "Imagology" see Dyserinck, Hugo 1981. Komparatistik. Aachener Beiträge zur Komparatistik. Bonn: Bouvier Verlag. Furthermore, see Dyserinck, Hugo 1995. "The comparative study of literature and the problem of national and cultural identity. An imagological vision", in Bekemans, Léonce (edit.) Culture: Building Stone for Europe 2002-Reflections and Perspectives. (The Bruges Conferences, College of Europe) Brussels: European Inter-university Press. The articles in the following Journal are also explanatory for this disciplin; Colloquium Helveticum-Imagologie: Problèmes de la représentation littéraire. 7. 1988. Schweizer Hefte für allgemeine und vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft. Berne, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Paris: Peter Lang Verlag. For Turkish sources refer to the publications of Kuran-Burçoglu, in the List of References, at the end of this paper.

22

NEDRET

KURAN-BURCOGLU

Nowadays the importance given to Imagology has increased, because people have finally realized how powerful the impact of the "image of the other country / nation / group of people" can be on human interactions and international relationships. As images are "mental pictures and ideas" that are "not God given", as Roland Barthes put forth in his book, entitled Mythologies1, but created by men, they are mostly subjective and very often based on prejudices, and can therefore lead to hazardous effects for the mankind. Human history is full of such examples. For this reason they have to be analyzed extensively, the outcomes of their analysis be shared and published widely. This is the main function of Imagology. As an interdisciplinary research field Imagology acts as a bridge between different disciplines, such as comparative literature, history, history of art, anthropology, ethno-psychology, social psychology, minority studies, translation studies, communication studies and the media, political science and sociology. Given its interdisciplinary nature, it applies a variety of text analysis methods, that are used by the individual disciplines that are related to it, to the data under investigation. In this context, semiotics, hermeneutics and reception studies provide the most commonly preferred comprehensive models for imagological analyses. The objective of the imagologist is not to create or change images — which falls into the area of expertise of the policy makers, strategists, and lobbyists —, but rather to investigate and describe the images without making value judgments or imposing personal / national / ethnic / religious views on the data to be analyzed, and finally inform the public about the results of the scientific research done. The aim of this paper is to look at the evolution phase of the image of the Turk in Europe f r o m 15 th to the 21 s t century f r o m a "supranational" perspective and investigate the socio-cultural, economic and ideological reasons that lie behind the transformations of this image during this time period.

II. Historical Image of the Turk in Europe T h e history of its evolution may, to a certain extent, highlight the current image of the Turk in Europe even if it is not sufficient to explain its whole bunch of dynamics. For this purpose the author of this paper will try to summarize the account of this image in Europe f r o m the 15 t h to the 21 s t century with some important examples based on written, visual and audiovisual sources.

1 In Kuhn, Annette (1985) 1987. The Power of the Image. London, New York: Routledge and Kegan & Paul.

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The image of the Turk emerged in 1088 with a provocative letter written by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus, to Robert I (10711093), Earl of Flandern, in which Christianity, wealth, security and even existence of Byzantium, which was considered the pride of whole Europe, were shown at stake (Kula 1992: 28). 1 This was certainly a negative image, ie. "the image of an enemy" who was "cruel", "barbaric", "devastating", as somebody who was considered a "threat for Christianity". This letter had played not an insignificant role in starting the first Crusade (Kuran-Burgoglu 1999d:188). 2 After this letter, throughout the nine centuries that followed, the image of the Turk was transformed according to various circumstances, such as the geographic distance of the particular country, in which the image emerged to the Ottoman Empire and later to Turkey, as well as wars, victories and defeats between the two countries in question, cultural aspects, religious differences, conventions, conflicting social norms and value judgements, as well as human psychology and existing previous images, positive or negative stereotypes and cliches of the Ottomans and / or Turks. Ideology has almost always been effective in shaping and reshaping of this image. Since images are not static, it is not easy and scientifically correct to put them under rigid categories and periodisation, however one can very often easily detect positively or negatively biased looks towards a particular nation / group of people, etc. among other such groups, at certain points and periods of time within the course of history. In other words, there has been times when favourable characteristics of the "other" have been foregrounded, and there has been other times, when its negative aspects have been foregrounded within the overall image, depending on one or a few of the above mentioned circumstances together. Looking at this phenomenon from this perspective, within the scope of the material that have been investigated, ie. European literary sources, travel accounts, memoires of the captives of war in the Ottoman Empire, paintings of the European artists who were representatives of various Orientalist Schools and history text books, as well as scholarly research done on this field, eight transformation phases can roughly be discerned within the history of the image of the Turk in Europe (ibid.). These phases can be summarized as:

Kula, Onur Bilge 1992. Alman Ktiltürü'nde Türk imgesi I. Mersin: £ukurova Üniversitesi Yaymlari, no. 5. The latin source identification is given in Kula as, "Epistula Alexii Komneni imperatoris ad Robertum 1 comitem Flandrensem. 1088". 2 Kuran-Bur9oglu, Nedret 1999 d. "The Image of the Turk in Europe from 11th to 20 th Century as represented in literary and visual sources", Marmara Journal of European Studies, pp. 187200. Istanbul: A Publication of Marmara University European Community Institute.

24 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

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The emergence of the image (11 th Century) The evolution phase of the image towards the Conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans (13 th - early 15 th Century) The presence of negative and positive images side by side after the Conquest of Constantinople (late 15 th Century) Increase of the negative aspects of the image in Central Europe (16 t h Century) A shift in the image after the defeat of the Ottoman army at the second Siege of Vienna (late 17 th century) A shift in the image into a more positive direction in German speaking areas of Europe due to the impact of the ideals of Enlightenment, such as "the idea of tolerance", and the "equality of religions" (18 th Century) A variety of images in different European countries due to the impact of Colonialization and its practises (late 18 th - 19 th Century) The era after the Declaration of the Turkish Republic (20 th Century) 1

During the first seven phases mentioned above, the Turk was sometimes seen as the "devil incarnate" (illustration 1), or the "wrath of God" for the Christians who either seemed to have neglected to obey to God's commands, or misinterpreted the religion according to their own earthly interests. However, at other instances, the Turk was shown in a relatively positive light, ie. as somebody who could even be envied as he was treated justly by his Emperor who was "mighty" and "affectionate" towards his subjects. These images were generally used to fulfill certain strategies within various European communities, at times of threat of losing prestige, authority and political power vis a vis the "other", the "enemy", or at times of ambivalence as the examples below will show.

1. 15th Century / Phase III The Turks had provoked a great horror in Europeans during their Expansion Period that lasted until the 15 th century. This horror was enhanced by the Turkish victories in Nicopolis (1396), Varna (1444), and Kosovo (1448), and reached its peak in 1453 with the Conquest of Constantinople by the Turkish army under the leadership of Sultan Mehmet II. The decline of the East Roman Empire created a loss of hope in Europeans who started to see the Turks as their "evil fate". The news about this defeat soon reached even the remotest corners of Europe by means of letters written by eye-witnesses of the 1 This era was studied by a group of European researchers f r o m different academic disciplines, within the scope of a research project, entitled "The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Turkish Republic in 1923 to 1990s", which had been launched by Kuran-Bur?oglu at the Center for Comparative European Studies (CECES), at Bogazi?i Universty, in 1997, and its Proceedings were published in 2000, in Istanbul by the Isis Press.

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Siege of Constantinople, as well as through the newly invented medium, Johann Gutenberg's press. 1 The responses of the Europeans to this event were soon reflected in visual and written sources. A variety of images emerged, the reason for this multiplicity of images lies in the fact that the Ottoman victory had found different interpretations in different European countries which was due to their geographical proximity to the Ottoman Empire. In the Balkans and the Mediterranean countries the negative image prevailed, while in the northern countries a more favourable image was formed. A Venetian nobleman, Niccolo Barbara in his diary, which depicts the construction scenes of Rumelihisar by the Turks at the preparation stage of the Conquest of Constantinople and the war scenes that followed exemplifies two motives concerning the "cruel Turk", ie. a religious one, the Turk as "striking off the heads of the Christians", an "infidel", and a more secular one, which is used extensively in chivalric literature, namely the Turk as the "antagonist"(Gurol 1987: 27-31). Barbara's book is significant as it inspired many future Italian writers (ibid.). In the case of the Balkans, until the mid-fourteenth century people were not so much concerned about the Turks as Rositsa Gradeva expresses in her article entitled, "Turks and Bulgarians — Fourteenth to Eighteenth Century" (Gradeva 1995:183). Until then their source of information about Islam and the Ottomans was the Orthodox Church. However, the intrusion of the Turks into the Balkans have changed the situation and the interest about this "enemy" among the local political and religious elites grew. Gradeva evaluates this situation as follows: The Conquest changed the priorities once again. It was now so important to know about Islam and about Turks. Information about their habits and way of life was abundant. The important thing became rather to find the dividing line, the contrast to create an abominable image of the Turk/Muslim both, as the followers of a different faith undermining the integrity of the Christian community, and as an alien political power, to show the reasons that brought about this disaster for Christianity, and to prove the ultimate superiority of the latter. This became of vital importance for the survival of the community. It is not surprising then, that Turks/Muslims were the group to which the most negative characteristics of all ethnic and religious groups in both folklore and literature were ascribed (ibid.).

1

Johann Gutenberg's printing press was put in use in Mainz, in 1436.

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In her evaluation Gradeva has picked up some very important points which explain clearly the formation of a negative image of the Turk in the Balkans at that particular stage of the history. Her claim about the fact, that with the emergence of this "Other" "the survival of the Christian community was under threat", is also confirmed by other literary and visual sources, and this point served as a motivation for the creation of the negative image of the Turk in Christian E u r o p e to "protect the integrity of the Christian community". Co-existant with these negative images in the neighboring countries during the second half of the 15 th century there was also a positive image in German popular literature. This image emerged in the Carnival plays (Fastnachtspiele) of the time (Kuran 1995c:239). In contrast to Mystery plays, which focused mainly on religious morality, Carnival plays, that developed in the German speaking lands in the Medieval Ages, depicted scenes f r o m everyday life. In these plays the characters turned for solutions to disputes and family feuds to secular rather than religious sources (ibid.). Hans Rosenplut's Carnival plays, Des Tiirken Fastnachtspiel and Ein Lied von dem Tiirken, first performed in 1454, are a case in point. In these plays the Turkish Sultan was represented as "the great Turk", "The Conqueror of Byzantium" to the public (Unlti 1981:43-44). He was depicted as a "mighty", "generous" and "just Emperor" whose subjects "lived in peace" and "didn't have to pay tribute to the State". He had been invited to the free town of Nurmberg where he would listen to the problems of the town's people and suggest solutions (ibid.). The representation of the Turk in these Carnival plays hints to the fact which is mentioned in Gradeva's article, ie. "The Turk / Muslim undermining the integrity of the Christian community". Indeed we can read in-between the lines of these plays an implied criticism of the public in Europe directed towards their own rulers who would force their subjects to pay tribute to them and who would treat them unjustly. This is done through a comparison of the ruling class in Europe with the Ottoman Sultan, who is represented as "just" and "generous". This should have been considered a sign of danger and threat by the rulers for themselves which could "undermine the integrity of the community" and had thus to be counterbalanced with negative characteristics that can be observed in the illustrations of Hans Sachs's book later in the 16 th century.

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2. 16th Century / Phase IV Hans Sachs (1496-1576) was a German philistine who had visualized the negative image of the Turk in his book called Die Welt des Hans Sachs. In his illustrations the Turk is shown as a "cruel", "merciless creature" who would even "kill innocent children" (Illustrations 2 and 3) (Kocadoru 90:175). Since Hans Sachs was a popular author, the image he had created about the Turk was quite effective in shaping the ideas of the German speaking world of Europe. This negative image was reinforced by the metaphors used in a series of impressive speeches that were rendered by Martin Luther (1483-1546). The titles of these speeches were the following: "Vom Kriege wider den Türken" (1529), "Heerpredigt wider den Türken" (1529) and "Vermahnung zum Gebet wider den Türken" (1541). In these speeches Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Church, the Turks were designated as the "whip" or the "scourge of God", and as the "tool of the devil", they were even equalled to the "devil" and to "hell". Martin Luther put the blame of the unfavourable situation of Europe in the 16 tfl century on both, the Catholic Church and the Pope, and on the Turks. And while he accused the Turks of killing the Christians, he also accused the Pope of killing the souls of the Christians. For him both of them should be considered as the "wrath of God" and unless measures were taken to protect the innocent Christians from these enemies, worse catastrophies could be expected any time to happen. In Bulgarian folkloric sources we come across a similar theme where the Catholic Church, together with the Pope, is accused of misinterpreting Christianity. In the case of the Bulgarians who adhered to the "Orthodox" sect of Christianity, this should be evaluated as a natural "othering" reaction just like that of Martin Luther. Another interesting case in the Bulgarian folklore is the fact that the enemy image comprised both the Greeks and the Turks. On the other hand in Bulgarian canonized literary sources the real enemy is boiled down to the Turk only, as both the Greeks and the Bulgarians were subjects of the same ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate and therefore could not overtly designate each other as "enemies"(Mutafchieva 1994:5-40).

3. 17th Century / Phase V Negative images continued during the 17 th century in Europe. Stereotypes are abundant in the Baroque plays of the German literature in which Christian women are depicted as forced to chose between becoming the mistresses of Turkish rulers or face execution (Unlii 81:48). Catherina von Georgien, the tragedy written by A. Grypwus (1616-1664), and performed in 1651, is a case in point. Lohenstein's two tragedies, Ibrahim Bassa and Ibrahim Sultan (1673) have similar themes.

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Bulgarian literary sources also reflect similar themes of women martyrs who refuse to marry the Turks and would rather sacrifice themselves. These motives are usually accompanied with the "image of the lustful Turk" who seems to threaten the social as well as the ethical values of the Christian norms of chastity and pure love. The same is reflected in the European concepts of the Harem as well as the Turkish bath scenes in visual sources, which seem to be popular themes also among the European painters of the 17 th and 18 th centuries who were representatives of different Orientalist Schools. Comparatist Cornelia Kleinlogel, in her book called Exotik-Erotik; zur Geschichte des Turkenbildes in der deutschen Literatur der frtihen Neuzeit (1453-1800) brings in an interesting interpretation to the Western concepts of "Harem" and the "bath scenes". She explains the excessive interest towards these scenes as a "projection of repressed sensuality in Europe due to Christian prohibitive norms concerning sexuality". Jean Léon Gérome's (1824-1904) painting "The Terrace of the Palace" (Illustration 4) justifies Cornelia Kleinlogel's point to the extent that it shows all naked women having a bath in open air and the Sultan watching them behind the colonnades. According to the authentic sources this scene is impossible, as an open-air bathing was not habitual in the Turkish Palaces and as it was not a custom for the Sultan to be present in the bathroom of the women in the Harem. However these paintings were accepted at the time of their production as documents that were reflecting the reality which was obviously misleading. Linda Nochlin, in her article entitled, "The Imaginary Orient" in which she deals with the paintings of Gérome justifies this. Within this context she defines the naked body of the Snake Charmer, which is another famous painting done by Jean Léon Gérome as, "a visual document of nineteenthcentury colonialist ideology, an iconic distillation of the Westerner's notion of the Orientals couched in the language of a would-be transparent naturalism."(Nochlin 1994:35) Thus these paintings should be approached with care from a critical perspective. Coming back to the end of the 17 th century it would be appropriate to note that the defeat of the Ottoman army at the gates of Vienna against the European army under the leadership of Jean Sobieski naturally caused a feeling of relief in Europeans and changed the general impression that "the Turks cannot be defeated". This should be taken as the second milestone after the Conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans within the history of the image of the Turk in Europe. From that time on the Turks were associated mainly with the adjectives of "ugly", "cruel", "treacherous", "deceitful", "unreliable", "ridiculous" and "sensual". In other words, all the other negative aspects remained, but the horror the Turks had induced in Europe vanished.

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4. 18th Century / Phase VI In contrast to the Medieval and Baroque images, in which negative aspects were dominant, the image of the Turk during the 18 th century exhibited more favorable qualities in the German media. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781), the playwright and critic who introduced "the philosophy of tolerance" into German culture, used a "virtuous Turk" to represent Islam in his famous play Nathan der Weise (1779) (Kuran 1995c:2). Inspired by the ideas propounded by the philosopher and scientist Leibniz (1646-1716) and his disciple Wolff (1679-1754), he expounded the idea that nobility of character has no particular relation to theological creeds. He maintained that historically, men of charitable spirit were found among Jews and Muslims just as often as among Christians. For this reason he condemned adherence to any one system of dogma and taught that the development of each of the world's great religions was simply a step in the spiritual evolution of mankind (ibid.). In other works too from the same period, e.g. Soliman, Der Kaufmann von Smyrna, Das Grab des Mufti, Adelheit von Weltheim and Mozart's famous opera Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) (1782) Turks appeared in a positive light (ibid.). This depiction was actually an expansion of the "Turquerie" or "Turcophilie" movement when Europe showed an interest in and appreciation of Turkish art and the Turkish way of life. John Frederick Lewis's painting depicting a lunch scene in Cairo is a good visual example that reflects this interest (Illustration 5). In his other paintings too Lewis focuses on scenes taken from everyday life in oriental cities, such as a class atmosphere, or a restaurant scene, etc. in which he has drawn with the eye of a careful observer all details of the space and the subtle furniture, the animals, birds, chickens, cats and sheep that are walking around, and the oriental types within their different costumes thus reflecting the atmosphere in a realistic and more objective way. In this respect, among the Orientalist painters Lewis occupies a special place. Furthermore he is a great master of using light and color. It is these aspects that make his paintings distinguished among those of other Orientalist painters. Another reflection of the "Turquerie" movement can be seen in Jean Portael's painting, entitled "White Lilacs"(Illustration 6). In this painting there is a European girl who is dressed like a Turk. At that period it became a fashion to be dressed like a Turk. There are plenty of other paintings of the same period, especially done in Britain, that show the Turkish influence on the European apparel designs. Following the Enlightenment well into the 19 th Century an interest in the Turks in Europe persisted. This was not only reflected in visual but also in literary sources. Tales with oriental and Turkish motifs became very popular in which the Orient was depicted as a glamorous world of fantasies.

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Much space was given to descriptions of rich decorations, oriental rugs and costumes made out of silk and other precious oriental fabrics and ample use made of irrational elements and supernatural forces. The concepts of the "Turk" and the "Oriental" merged and were used interchangeably. Themes were similar to those of the previous era, but these stories usually concluded with a moral message; good is rewarded and bad punished.

5 . 1 9 t h Century / Phase VII Together with the colonization movements in Europe during the late 18 th and the 19 th Centuries Western perceptions concerning the Orient also changed. For colonial interests people in Europe turned their attention towards the East and the South. Thus Oriental Studies gained impetus in Europe (Kuran 1995c:3) Extensive research was carried out and hundreds of books were written with the aim of expanding knowledge of the peoples and countries of the Orient, of their history, geography and languages, their religion, traditions, customs and way of life. Paintings depicting the Orient also became popular, thus a new school of painting in Europe, the Orientalist School evolved which flourished in countries like France, England, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands with slight differences of taste and manner. These paintings reflected a new perspective which can be summarized as follows: "a desire to see and to possess the mystery and the wealth of the Orient", "a nostalgia", "a reflection of dreams and desires", "a mysterious and enchanting Orient", "precious objects", "wealth", "comfort", "sensuality and sexual freedom for men", "beautiful women", "free animals", "laziness", "idleness", "a relaxed atmosphere", "lack of discipline" and "a slight backwardness". Some examples of these have been touched upon above, within the context of the "Turquerie" movement. However it would be worthwhile to look at some further examples of these schools, within the context of the "Colonization" movement and see how individual painters perceived, interpreted and reflected the Turk. Both of the following two paintings, The Turkish man sitting on a sofa (Illustration 7) and Bashi Bazouk (Illustration 8), the former taken from the corpus of the French Orientalist painter Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) the latter taken from the corpus of the French Orientalist painter Jean Leon Gerome (1824-1904) depict Turkish male figures. These two paintings are deliberately chosen as they are similar in many respects. First they display the same symbols, i.e. daggers, long pipes and guns, which are symbols that signify man and his sensuality, and are considered to be indispensable accessories of a Turkish man, connoting dominance and male chauvinism.

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Secondly, the paintings reflect similar atmospheres, that is a calm, lifeless, almost lethargic air, as if the time has stood still. This is by the way, a common aspect of the Orientalist paintings, to show that there is no development in the Orient, that is a stance deliberately chosen to reflect the contrast between the West and the Eastern World. Thirdly, the postures of both men, as well as the expression in their faces, albeit their slight differences, reflect a similar attitude, which is a selfish attitude of a man who would care less whatever is happening in the world around them, as they seem to occupy the center of the world. Finally the costumes of both men are more or less the same. Compared with the other paintings of Delacroix that depict subjects from the Western World, "immobility" and "idleness" appear to be the distinctive aspects of these two paintings, as most of Delacroix' paintings are characterized with their lively movements. Another well known French Orientalist painter was Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), who had drawn nudes in oriental spaces. Ingres is known to have a precise linear style who preferred idealized forms to reality. This painting which depicts an Odalisque with the Slave (Illustration 9) is an example of such a piece. The sensuality of the Odalisque who is resting after having taken a bath, as well as the slave entertaining her with music, and the black eunuch and the oriental garden scene in the background complete the image and reflect the typical "orientalist gaze" in Edward Said's terms. This painting is a typical example of the so-called "picturesque", i.e. reflecting a scene from a culture which seems to stand still, an idle life in a motionless world within an idyllic oriental landscape. The sensuality of the odalisque is emphasized so that she seems to be prepared for consumption by men. Her whiteness is contrasted by the blackness of the servant at the back which is also a commonly used strategy by Orientalist artists. Jean Léon Gérome's painting entitled, The Great Pool of Bursa (Illustration 10) is a further example that displays the "orientalist gaze". Though Gérome differs f r o m Ingres a great deal in his style, in his composition and the smooth contours of his figures, he seems to share with him certain clichés that seem to be common to the painters who represent different Orientalist Schools. In addition to the above mentioned aspects of the orientalist concepts, this painting also alludes to lesbian relationships that is emphasized by the embrace of the two contrastive figures, a white nude and a black slave, that are foregrounded and placed on the right hand side of the painting. These figures are shown from the back, which is a preferred artistic pose that can be seen also in other paintings of Gérome.

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These observations have shown that there were similar perspectives concerning the Turk among the individual Orientalist painters. However, there were also different interpretations, and therefore it should not be scientific to make a generalization and consider the image of the Turk as reflected in the paintings of the Orientalist painters as a product of a unique "orientalist gaze". Obviously there were variations, due to individual receptions, but also due to the impact of different political interests of the countries the artists of the paintings as well as the authors of the books were living in. As Said also pointed out there were different conceptions of the Orient among Europeans, e.g. the Germans who did not have colonial interests before 1860, had a different Orientalist discourse than the French and the British who already had colonies. So political interests could be one of the formative inputs that shaped the image. An example for this is taken from German popular literature: In Vom Bagdad nach Stambul which was written by the armchair fictionist Karl May, the author mentions the "image of the sick man" which was assigned to the Ottoman Empire during its declining period by the Austrians, the Russians, the British and the French. Karl May naively criticizes these countries in his novel as they attempt to take advantage of the "illness" of their neighbor instead of trying to offer a cure for her and he adds, "if I had been a physician of politics myself, I would have cured this country. It's a pity that I'm not." A further element that affected the formation of the image has been put forth by feminist critics. They claimed that the perspectives can vary due to differences in gender. Reina Lewis in her book entitled, Gendering Orientalism argues that women artists were considered as the "other" vis a vis the male artists in Europe during the 19th century. Thus the vision of these artists concerning the Orientals who were the "second other" could also be different from the one of the male artists. Thus the image formed in pictures, paintings as well as in literary sources will also be influenced by these different genders, cultures, powers and politics which should be kept in mind while analysing the images, their formation processes and their impact on individual people and human relationships. An overall observation concerning the evolution of the image of the Turk in Europe until the Declaration of the Republic in Turkey, in 1923, has revealed the following tendencies: — At times of political tension in Europe, negative aspects of the image were foregrounded and juxtaposed against the positive aspects of the European self-image.

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— Creation of a negative image, ic. "the image of an enemy" had been necessary in Europe, especially during the Middle Ages, the formation of which served to a great extent to the creation and stabilisation of a more or less united self-identity of Europe, among the adherents of the Christian faith, which was missing as it was clearly expressed in Martin Luther's speeches and in Bulgarian folkloric sources (cf. 16 th Century / Phase IV). This enemy image served to bring together the Europeans, who had been decentred and fragmented due to their differences in belief as well as to their differing natures and origins. This negative image was completed during the Expansion Period of the Ottomans when they were considered to be a threat for Europe and the Church. And naturally the Church contributed to the formation of this negative image and also for spreading it all over Europe. — The negative image of the Turk as a "merciless despotic ruler" also served as a motivating force to those groups of people who had been under the Ottoman rule for centuries to build their national identities against this Empire. This was the case during the late 19 th , early 20 t h century. — The positive image on the other hand, was very often used by the ordinary people of Europe as a weapon of threat against their rulers who had been oppressing them by levying high taxes, by sending them to war and by treating them not in a just manner. These people in turn threatened their rulers — very often by implication — that rather than being tortured by their own rulers they would convert into Islam and become the subjects of the Ottoman Sultan who would treat them humanely. Naturally this was the case at times when the Ottoman Empire was still powerful.

6. 20>h Century / Phase VIII The Turkish Republic was declared in the Grand National Assembly, in Ankara, on October 29 t h , 1923, by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Turkey became a democratic secular state that adopted Western norms. With the Declaration of the Republic Alatiirk aimed at a thorough change of the image of his country as well as of its people in the eyes of themselves as well as in the eyes of the people in the Western world. For this purpose he initiated a series of reforms by which he intended to bridge the gap with countries that had experienced an enlightenment phase, because he had observed that the Turkish nation had experienced a great decline and loss because of this gap. That day it was clearly stated, that "the Turkish Republic was a secular state, the sovereignty of which would belong to its people, and that it would be an indivisible whole within the confines of its borders". Through these carefully chosen concepts Ataturk aimed to give two main messages to the whole world, that are of utmost importance for the new image of the country he

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wanted to create. These were the following: The Turkish State was going to be a secular democratic State, i.e. from then on the religion of its people was going to be an issue of conscience of its people, and would not intervene into its governmental rule. In other words, Islam which had always been a significant issue that had made the Turks seem different in the eyes of the Europeans would cease to be an important issue. Secondly Turkey was not going to expand and would not claim any further lands outside its borders. This would mean that none of its neighbors had to be afraid of a Turkish raid any more. With these two messages Atattirk wanted to put an end to the fears of the Europeans of the "image of the expansionist Turk". In order to examine whether and to what extent these concepts that were accompanied by a series of extensive reforms have induced a substantial change of opinion in the minds of the Europeans about the Turks and how these changes — if there have been any — have been reflected in literary and visual sources, the writer of this paper had launched an interdisciplinary research project at the Center for Comparative European Studies at Bogazi§i University, in 1997, that was entitled, "The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Republic in 1923 to 1990s" to which 25 experts of 11 European countries from various academic disciplines, such as imagology, sociology, psychology, Islamic Studies, Communication Studies and the Media, Translation Studies, ethno-musicology, history of art, international relations, German, English, Italian, Czech and Slovak Studies and Turcology have contributed with invaluable research in their fields of expertise. The project was completed with a Workshop that was held at Bogazigi University, in March 1999, and the articles were published in 2000. The research project has revealed invaluable results with far reaching implications worthy of attention. Naturally, they cannot be summed up in such a short paper. However in order to give an opinion of the variety of dynamics of the recent image of the Turk in Europe excerpts taken from two articles will be cited here. The first excerpt is taken from an article entitled, "Contemporary Greek Nationalism: The Image of the Turks in the Greek Press (1994-1998)" This article was written by Christina Rougheri, who is a Greek Helsinki Monitor and was a Ph.D. candidate — at the time of the Workshop — in Communication and Media Studies:

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In the Conclusion part of her article Rougheri states: The portrait of Turkey in the Greek press is far from flattering: The Greek press, in its majority, cannot really claim an objective and cool coverage of the Greek-Turkish relations. This is becoming far more evident in the periods of high political and diplomatic tension between the two countries. The Turkish media follows more or less the same track. During the days of the Imia / Kardak crisis most media in the two countries engaged in extreme hate speech and war mongering. (Rougheri 2000:419) T h e second excerpt is taken f r o m an article, entitled, " T h e I m a g e of the Turkish Literature in Flanders" which w a s written by J o h a n n Soenen w h o is a Belgian Imagologist: ( ) Imagological studies have shown that the image perceived of foreigners, countries and cultures (including literature) tends to be onesided, stereotypical, caricatural, incomplete and lacking in objectivity. We can ask ourselves whether the image of militancy and protest of Turkish literature is correct? Has it not been "exaggerated" as a result of the latent conflict, which for years now has dominated European and Turkish relations? Could Europe indeed only be interested — including through literature — in the negative aspects of the actual Turkish system? How can we be sure that the people who decide which authors are to be translated or not, first and foremost publishers and translators, make informed and objective choices? For it is not true historical factors that influence the selection to a great extent; as for instance the constant bombardment of the public by Dutch and Flemish media, with images and stories focusing on T u r k e y ' s political corruption, human rights violations, and Mafia practises, which consequently largely determine "Turkey's Image". Media attention to Turkish issues has been a decisive factor in the translation boom in Flanders and the Netherlands during the last quarter of the 20 t h century, which in turn has reinforced the predominant image of modern Turkish literature as being one of crusade and protest. (Soenen 2000:37-54)

III.

Conclusion

T h e s e evaluations m a d e by t w o E u r o p e a n experts reflecting the current I m a g e of t h e T u r k in their o w n countries h a v e once again indicated that the images can be f o r m e d , transformed and manipulated according to the political a g e n d a , international relationships, c o n f l i c t s and interests b e t w e e n h u m a n beings, groups of p e o p l e and nations and that m e d i a can play an e n o r m o u s role in shaping and spreading them. F u r t h e r m o r e these evaluations have also revealed, that h u m a n beings always tend to m a k e generalizations that are very o f t e n b a s e d on p r e v i o u s l y o b t a i n e d p r e j u d i c e s a b o u t t h e " o t h e r " a n d these prejudices unfortunately influence the decisions that are taken about the

36

NEDRET

K U R A N B U R g O G L U

" o t h e r " . In t h e c a s e of t h e " w e s t e r n i z e d T u r k " , it can b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e r e h a s b e e n a c h a n g e of p e r c e p t i o n in t h e m i n d s of t h e E u r o p e a n s a f t e r t h e D e c l a r a t i o n of t h e R e p u b l i c . T h e r e c e r t a i n l y h a s b e e n a c h a n g e , h o w e v e r t h e d e e p l y r o o t e d historical i m a g e s e e m s still t o b e l y i n g d o r m a n t in t h e m i n d s of t h e E u r o p e a n s a n d p o p p i n g u p at s i g n i f i c a n t m o m e n t s w h e n a d e c i s i o n has t o b e t a k e n a b o u t T u r k e y . A n d n o w t h a t t h e a c c e s s i o n of T u r k e y to t h e E u r o p e a n U n i o n is b e i n g u n d e r d i s p u t e , t h i s i m a g e s t a r t s t o b l u r t h e m i n d s of t h e d e c i s i o n t a k i n g m e c h a n i s m s of E u r o p e a n d T u r k e y s e e m s t o h a v e r e m a i n e d still t h e " E u r o p e ' s o t h e r " .

References: Dyscrinck, Hugo 1988 " Z u r E n t w i c k l u n g der k o m p a r a t i s t i s e h e n I m a g o l o g i e " , Colloquium Helveticum. pp. 19-42, Bern: Peter Lang Verlag. 1981 Komparatistik: Eine Einführung. 2. Auflage, Bonn: Bouvier Verlag. Gürol, Ümit 1987 Italyan Edebiyati'nda Türkler. Ankara: Imge Kitabevi Yayinlari. Gradeva, Rositsa 1995 "Turks and Bulgarians, 14 t h -18 t h Centuries", Journal of Mediterranean Studies, edit, by Hann & Fleet, Vol. 5, Nr. 2, pp. 173-188. University of Malta: Mediterranean Institute. Hann, Ildiko & Kate Fleet 1995 edit. Journal of Mediterranean Studies. Vol. 5, Nr. 2. University of Malta: Mediterranean Institute. Kleinlogel, Cornelia 1989 Exotik-Erotik: zur Geschichte des Türkenbildes in der frühen Neuzeit (14531800). Bochumer Schriften zur deutschen Literatur : 8. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. Kocadoru, Yüksel 1990 Die Türken: Studien zu ihrem Bild und seiner Geschichte in Österreich. Klagenfurt. Ph.D. Thesis. Kula, Onur Bilge 1993 Alman Kültüründe Türk imgesi II. Ankara Gündogan Yaymlari. 1992 Alman Kültüründe Türk imgesi I. Ankara Gündogan Yaymlari. Kuran-Bur^oglu, Nedret 2002 Das Türkenbild in Europa (book under preparation) 2001b "Image of the Turk in Europe at a Stage when Turkey's Accession to EU is being discussed"(forthcoming article in Insight Turkey-Journal of the ARI Movement) 2000 edit. The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Republic in 1923 to 1990s. Istanbul: The Isis Press. 1999d "The Image of the Turk f r o m 1 1 t h to 2 0 t h Centuries as reflected in literary and visual sources", Journal of Marmara University-Special Issue in Honour of Professor Orhan Oguz. Pp.187-201. Istanbul: Marmara University Press. 1997f "Ein neues Imagologieprojekt: Das Türkenbild in Europa im Zeitraum 19231990", 6. Germanistik Sempozyumu: Agdimlar, Olanaklar ve Erekler. Pp. 301-306, University of Mersin.

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1995c "The Image of the Turk in Karl May's Novel 'Von Bagdad nach Stambul' Journal of Mediterranean Studies. Vol. 5, Nr.2, pp. 239-247. Cambridge: Malta University Press. 1994c "Karl May'da Turk Imgesi", Kuram: Kitap 6. Edit, by Yurdanur Salman, pp. 77-82. Istanbul: Kur Yayincihk. Lewis, Reina 1996 Gendering Orientalism, Race, Femininity and Representation. London and New York: Routledge. Mutafchieva, Vera 1994 "The Turk, The Jew and The Gypsy"Relations of Compatibility and Incompatibility between Christians and Muslims in Bulgaria. Pp.5-63. Sofia: International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations Foundation. Nochlin, Linda (1989-91) 1994 "The Imaginary Orient", The Politics of Vision, pp. 33-59, Thames & Hudson. Roughen, Christina 2000 "Contemporary Greek Nationalism: The Image of the Turks in the Greek Press (1994-1998)", The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Republic in 1923 to 1990s, edit, by Nedret Kuran-BurL • St •< ?< • 0$*»»**.

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