{"title":"History as Antidote to Wounded National Pride: Politics of History in Kemal Tahir’s Devlet Ana","authors":"Servet Erdem","doi":"10.1163/18775462-bja10015","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nThis article analyses Devlet Ana, Kemal Tahir’s novel on the rise of the Ottomans, within the scope of the politics of history. Through an analysis of Tahir’s novel, the article reveals the political and ideological forces that brought about a reactionary, monolithic, and totalising understanding of history and historiography in the Turkish literary institution. The article argues that despite Tahir’s allegedly Marxist framing, his understanding of history—driven by an inferiority complex and Westophobia—hardly goes beyond an ethical binarism in which absolute good or evil racial and civilisational nature determines everything.","PeriodicalId":41042,"journal":{"name":"Turkish Historical Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Turkish Historical Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18775462-bja10015","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This article analyses Devlet Ana, Kemal Tahir’s novel on the rise of the Ottomans, within the scope of the politics of history. Through an analysis of Tahir’s novel, the article reveals the political and ideological forces that brought about a reactionary, monolithic, and totalising understanding of history and historiography in the Turkish literary institution. The article argues that despite Tahir’s allegedly Marxist framing, his understanding of history—driven by an inferiority complex and Westophobia—hardly goes beyond an ethical binarism in which absolute good or evil racial and civilisational nature determines everything.
期刊介绍:
The Turkish Historical Review is devoted to Turkish history in the widest sense, covering the period from the 6th century, with the rise of the Turks in Central Asia, to the 20th century. All contributions to the journal must display a substantial use of primary-source material and also be accessible to historians in general, i.e. those working outside the specific fields of Ottoman and Turkish history. Articles with a comparative scope which cross the traditional boundaries of the area studies paradigm are therefore very welcome. The editors also encourage younger scholars to submit contributions. The journal includes a reviews section, which, in addition to publications in English, French, and other western European languages, will specifically monitor new studies in Turkish and those coming out in the Balkans, Russia and the Middle East. The Turkish Historical Review has a double-blind peer review system.