Aesthetics and Politics in Eighteenth Century English Women's Travel Writings on Ottoman Empire
The Second International Conference on Current Trends in the Middle East , Tekirdağ, Turkey, 5 - 09 November 2018, pp.15-16, (Summary Text)
- Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
- City: Tekirdağ
- Country: Turkey
- Page Numbers: pp.15-16
- Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
AESTHETICS AND POLITICS IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH WOMEN’S TRAVEL WRITINGS ON OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Sıla ARICI
University Of Lisbon
ABSTRACT
This study argues that a comprehensive understanding of the representation of the Ottoman Empire in eighteenth-century English women’s travel writing requires a new perspective through an analysis of cultural and political changes in the eighteenth century from Enlightenment to Romanticism. Of the only two eighteenth-century authors in the sample (Melman, 1995: 48). Lady Mary Montagu and Elisabeth Craven are two of the earliest English women travellers to Ottoman Empire; they both travelled in the eighteenth century and wrote several letters throughout their journeys. Nevertheless, their travel accounts portray conflicting visions of Ottoman culture. Placing great emphasis on Ottoman women and domestic culture, the former portrays an unbiased, open-minded, tolerant view about the Ottoman East whereas the latter is highly critical about Ottoman world, despises Ottoman women and culture while praising picturesque landscapes. Within this framework, Lady Mary Montagu’s The Turkish Embassy Letters (1994) from the Ottoman Empire between the years 1716 and 1718 reflect the cultural upheaval of Enlightenment, whereas Elisabeth Craven’s A Journey Through the Crimea to Constantinople. In a Series of Letters from the Right Honourable Elizabeth Lady Craven, to His Serene Highness the Margrave of Brandebourg, Anspach, and Bareith Written in the Year MDCCLXXXVI (1789) from almost the exact same spots in 1786 hint at the characteristics of the increasing imperial thought and Romanticism in England.
Keywords: Lady Mary Montagu, Elizabeth Craven, Ottoman Empire, British Imperialism, Enlightenment,
Romanticism