The young turk historical imagination in the pursuit of mythical Turkishness and its lost grandeur (1911-1914)

Umit Kurt*, Dogan Gurpinar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Based on a comprehensive reading of the 1912-1914 issues of the journal Turkish Homeland, the highbrow intellectualist periodical of the Turkist intellectuals and the ruling Committee of Union and Progress, this article argues that sublime Turkishness envisaged by the Young Turks can be construed as a character build-up. The article also examines how history was utilized as an arsenal from where the sublime ‘Turkish character’ was extracted in a decade in which interest towards Turkic history burgeoned, arguing that valiant Turkic heroes from the glorious Turkic past were discovered or rediscovered to stand out as exemplary men and epitomes of incorruptibleness inspiring the new youth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)560-574
Number of pages15
JournalBritish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Volume43
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 British Society for Middle Eastern Studies.

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