Turkey: A Past Against History

by Christine M. Philliou

From its earliest days, the dominant history of the Turkish Republic has been one of national self-determination and secular democratic modernization. The story insisted on total rupture between the Ottoman Empire and the modern Turkish state and on the absolute unity of the Turkish nation. In recent years, this hermetic division has begun to erode, but as the old consensus collapses, new histories and accounts of political authority have been slow to take its place.

In this richly detailed alternative history, Christine M. Philliou focuses on the notion of political opposition and dissent— muhalefet —to connect the Ottoman and Turkish periods. Taking the perennial dissident Refik Halid Karay as a subject, guide, and interlocutor, she traces the fissures within the Ottoman and the modern Turkish elite that bridged the transition. Exploring Karay’s political and literary writings across four regimes and two stints in exile, Philliou upends the official history of Turkey and offers new dimensions to our understanding of its political authority and culture.

Genres: History, Middle East

293 pages, Paperback

Published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Erdem Tasdelen]

This was an interesting read but seriously, did no one edit or fact check this book? There are so many errors in the translations of Turkish words into English (example: "buzağı" is mistaken for "buzdağı" and translated as "iceberg", when it actually means "calf"), typos in Turkish words (example: the title of a Refik Halid book is repeatedly rendered "Kendi Yazılar ile" which is grammatically incorrect), and even at one point in the epilogue the leader of the HDP is named as Süleyman Demirtaş (as opposed to Selahattin). I appreciate the effort put into this work, but seeing these errors made me wonder if all of the research was this sloppy, so I started doubting everything presented as fact.

[Lale Can · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the rare book that allows you to understand the end of empire and birth of the Turkish Republic, through the life and writings of a fascinating figure. I loved Philliou's engagement with Refik Halid Karay's own writings. Her translations are phenonemonal, and the way she relates his career as a muhalif can help us understand much about the political culture of the 20th century.

[Osman Tümay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fevkalâde ilginç ve yararlı bir kitap. Geç Osmanlı'dan 27 Mayıs'a kadar muhalif olmanın izini, iflâh olmaz bir muhalifin, Refik Halid Karay'ın edebî ve siyasi yaşamı üzerinden sürerek bugünlere nasıl gelindiğine farklı bir bakış açısı sunmaktadır. Kitapla ilgili tek eleştirim, özellikle son bölümlerde çok sayıda gramer ve imlâ hatası içermesidir. Yayına hazırlayan ekibi, böyle iyi bir çalışmaya gölge düşürdükleri için kınıyorum.