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Hizmet: A Keyword in the Turkish Historical Narrative
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 July 2015
Extract
In the discourse of the history textbooks used since 1931, the relationship between identity and otherness often tends towards the necessity of proving both the value and greatness of Turkish history and culture. Consequently, the whole historical narrative, and also the discourse on identity and the nationalist discourse, which very often make use of history in their argumentation, always present the Turks in a favorable light and in an emphasized role. This appears in several forms, particularly during a kind of reconstruction of the past using tenses expressing the unreal condition (“If the Turks had not existed… Islam could not have been saved”, or “… the European Renaissance could not have taken place”, etc.). Another noticeable form is the use of the word hizmet, (“service”, “utility”, helpfulness”, “function”) provided by the Turks. The word itself is helpful to fit the Turks in with “otherness”, in the way of showing them in a good light in history. With regard to this notion, according to the narrative, wide groups of “others” often take advantage of the existence of the Turks: the whole mankind, the “free world”, or the Muslim world, according to the time when the discourse was formulated.
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- Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 1996
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