Neo-Ottoman Imaginaries in Contemporary Turkey (Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe)

"This book presents gendered readings of cultural manifestations that relate to the Ottoman era as a preferred past and a model for the future. By means of claims of authenticity and the distribution of imaginaries of a homogenous desirable alternative to everyday concerns, as well as invoking an imperial past at the national level. In this mode of thinking, shaped around a polarised worldview, Republican ideals serve as a counter-image to the promoted splendour and harmony of the Ottomans. Yet, the stereotypical gender roles inextricably linked with this neo-Ottoman imaginary remain largely unacknowledged, dissimulated in the construction of the desire of an idealised past. Our adaption of a cultural studies perspective in this volume puts special emphasis on agency, gender, and authority. It provides a shared ground for the interrogation, through the contributions comprising this project of knowledge production about the past in light of what constitutes acceptable legitimacy in interpreting not only the canonical literature, but history at large."-- Provided by publisher Contents 6 Notes on Contributors 8 List of Figures 14 Chapter 1: “I am the Granddaughter of the Ottomans”: Gender, Aesthetics and Agency in Neo-Ottoman Imaginaries—An Introduction 18 A Desirable Past, Homogeneous Fellowships and Fixed Roles 20 Imaginaries of a Future Past 27 Religion, Heritage and Belonging 29 Gender During the AKP Regime 34 Communicating Heritage and History, Building Identities 39 Neo-Ottomanism’s Elusive Cultural Authority 43 References 44 Chapter 2: Neo-Ottomanism versus Ottomania: Contestation of Gender in Historical Drama 50 Neo-Ottomanism versus Ottomania 52 A Feminised-Private Sphere: Gender Anxieties in Ottomania and Neo-Ottomanism 55 Truth, Pleasure, and Anxieties 56 Magnificent Century: Popular Gone Wrong 59 Complex Characters 60 Powerful Women 62 Conspicuous Consumption and Authenticity 63 Resurrection: Ertuğrul: State-Endorsed Popular 65 Meet-Cute 66 Conclusion 69 References 70 Chapter 3: Lovers of the Rose: Islamic Affect and the Politics of Commemoration in Turkish Museal Display 73 Reviving Art, Contesting the Present 73 Museums, Nationalism, and Religion: Key Issues and Recent Trends 76 A New Museology: Critical Perspectives on Subjectivity, Materiality, Affect, and Representation 78 The Sacred and the City: Istanbul as a Ritual-Museal Memory Site 82 Re-Narrating, Ritualising, and Redeeming History in Turkish Memory Space 83 Expanding Memory Spaces: Visual-Ritual Commemoration in Public Space 87 Hilye-i Şerif: Commemoration, Affect, and Nationalism in Calligraphic Incorporation 92 Negotiating a Devotional Art Tradition in Contemporary Display 93 Re-Scripting the Prophetic Body 101 A Nation on Display under a Pious Gaze 104 Concluding Note: A Valentinisation of Islamic-Ottoman Memory 106 References 108 Chapter 4: Between Memory and Forgetting and Purity and Danger: The Case of the Ulucanlar Prison Museum 114 Situating the Ulucanlar Prison Museum Case Study 114 On Public Space, Museums, and Collective Memory in Turkey 117 On Neo-Ottomanism 118 The Space of the Prison Museum 120 Remembering Political Dissidents in the Prison Museum 125 Reading the Ulucanlar Prison Museum 128 Neo-Ottomanism and the Prison Museum 133 Concluding Remarks 135 References 137 Chapter 5: Architectures of Domination? The Sacralisation of Modernity and the Limits of Ottoman Islamism 139 Sacralisation and Restoration: Islam, the Ottoman Empire, and the AKP 141 The Representative Architecture of the AKP Era 145 Re-enchanting Modern Cityscapes: The Hacıbayram Mosque and Neighbourhood 145 Diminishing the Republican Past in Ankara and Istanbul: Ulus and Taksim 149 The Atatürk Cultural Centre and the Taksim Mosque 152 Dominating the Present: Power and the Common Good 155 The Çamlıca Mosque 158 The Presidential Complex 160 Conclusion 163 References 164 Chapter 6: Claiming the Neo-Ottoman Mosque: Islamism, Gender, Architecture 168 The Birth of Neo-Ottoman Mosque 170 An Ambiguous Start: Islamism and Mosque Design 172 Representing Islamist Hegemony: (Re)producing Neo-Ottomanism 178 Conclusion 184 References 185 Chapter 7: Commemorating the First World War and Its Aftermath: Neo-Ottomanism, Gender, and the Politics of History in Turkey 187 Introduction 187 Re-envisaging the Empire through the Centennial Commemorations of the First World War 191 Suffering, Martyrdom, Victimhood 196 Imperial Visions 200 The Invisibility of Non-Muslim Soldiers and Genocide Denialism 201 Construction of Femininities through War Commemoration 204 Memorials for Heroines 205 Popularisation 210 Heroines in the Curriculum and Education 211 Conclusion 215 References 216 Chapter 8: The New Ottoman Henna Nights and Women in the Palace of Nostalgia 221 Transformation of Customs: Spaces, Symbols, and Womanhood 226 Creating a Space: Mansions, Alternative Spaces, and Creative Actors 228 Tools and Signs of Authenticity, Tradition, and Heritage Embedded in Entertainment 234 New Meanings, New Womanhoods 240 The Future of Nostalgia 244 References 246 Chapter 9: Post-truth and Anti-science in Turkey: Putting It into Perspective 249 Contextualising the Turkish Case 250 Neo-Ottoman Populism 252 Gender under the Rule of AKP 253 Trolling Science and Gendered Populist Discourse 255 Gender Equality vs. Gender Justice 257 Family Mainstreaming 261 Conclusion 264 References 265 Chapter 10: Mixed Marriage Patterns in Istanbul: Gendering Ethno-religious Boundaries 269 Conditions for the non-Muslim Communities in Republican Turkey 273 Non-Muslims under the AKP Rule 275 Moving beyond Tolerance 278 Mixed Marriages within Rum, Jewish, and Armenian Communities 281 Gender Aspect of Mixed Marriages 285 Concluding Remarks 291 References 293 Chapter 11: Neo-Ottoman Intersections: The Politics of Gender in a Transforming Turkey—An Afterword 296 Two Symbolic Acts 296 The Neo-Ottoman Lacuna of Gender Studies in Turkey 299 The Gender Lacuna of Neo-Ottomanism 302 Where the Twain Shall Meet: Gendering Neo-Ottomanism 307 References 312 Index 323