I turchi siamo noi. Una narrazione di Alterità nella storia dell’identità europea

We are the Turks. A narration of Otherness in the history of European identity

Abstract

The history of Europe is an excellent example of relationships with the Others, whose stereotypical representation is useful to the construction of collective identity: in Modern Europe, particularly after the fall of Constantinople, Turkey and the Turks were invested by a process of Othering with effects still visible nowadays. Analogously, Europe has held an important role in the construction of Turkish identity, in a context where mostly heretics and freethinkers expressed an alternative and more positive stance towards the Other. Indeed, the projection of European fears and insecurities on the Turks took place in a situation of continuous exchanges as well as of crisis of traditional values in European society. Between XVI and XVII centuries, Turcophobia and Turcophilia radicalized due to some historical figures and military battles with a high symbolic value. Later on, the decline of Ottoman power and the culture of Enlightenment favoured a new approach towards the Turk.