Theses supervised by Prof. Dr. Alev Çınar
10 theses · İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University
Alafranga züppe: Geç 19. yüzyıl Osmanlı romanlarında modern bireycilik
The thesis studies the Hamidian regime (1876-1909) of the Ottoman Empire with regard to the relations between Ottoman modernization, Westernization and the proto-individualism that was then taking roots without the concomitant development of capitalism and in the absence of bourgeoisie. To investigate these relations, the thesis concentrates upon the alla franca dandy literary figure; a francophile who adores European culture and feels aversion towards the Ottoman/Islamic culture. The alla franca dandy owes his existence to Ahmet Mithat's Felatun Bey and Rakım Efendi (1876) published as a critique of "false Westernization" and an attempt at circumscribing the limits of proper modernization, balancing the Ottoman/Islamic culture and Western material progress. He was thus born out of the Ottoman intellectuals' ideas of and anxiety over Westernization, who sought to modernize the society without subverting the traditional foundations. As the Ottoman/Islamic and Western cultures collided, the alla franca dandy became the embodiment of "false Westernization" and served the intellectuals' objective to educate the masses by setting a bad example. However, though the alla franca dandy was born to circumscribe the proper limits of modernization, he ironically evolved, through the novels of authors like Ekrem and Gürpınar), to express individualistic attitudes and put forth a modernist critique of the Ottoman/Islamic tradition as the intellectuals' epistemological assumptions eroded and the society's present is questioned and problematized as in need of intervention. Through an analysis of the alla franca dandy's development, the thesis tries to bring forth Ottoman modernity's unique nature and individualism's role in it.
Yüksek öğrenimde iman ve akıl: Ankara Üniversitesi ilahiyat fakültesinde sosyal bilimsel islam çalışması
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the mektep-madrasa controversy is manifested in Ankara University School of Divinity as a divide between those who see the study and teaching of Islam as a religion, and those who see it as a social science. The works of İlhami Güler, Hayri Kırbaşoğlu and Şaban Ali Düzgün who are scholars at Ankara University School of Divinity are analyzed to understand how they construct an academic study of Islam based on the premises of social sciences through questioning the binary logic behind the concepts of reason/faith, modern/traditional, knowledge/belief which is at the core of theological Islamic studies. Based on the analysis, I argue that although their approaches, points, emphases are different from each other, these scholars share the same objective which is the construction of a social scientific study of Islam in higher education as a ground to reconcile ongoing dichotomy in the academic study of Islam in Turkey.
Milli Türk Talebe Birliği'nin (MTTB) entelektüel temelleri, 1965-1980
This thesis examines the intellectual foundations of the ideology of the Turkish National Student Union (MTTB) by analyzing the publications of this organization, once a paragon of Islamic youth activism in Turkey. It aims to scrutinize the place of the ideological orientation of the MTTB in the broader ideological spectrum of Turkish political thought. Through this analysis, this study questions some prevalent assumptions about the right-left wing distinction in Turkish political thought concerning the ideological position of the MTTB. To this end, it analyzes several key political concepts, namely revolution, order, conquest, and civilization, in the magazines published by the union between 1965 and 1980. The study reveals how the MTTB's ideological position against the state, political order and national identity had undergone change over the years. It also discusses the influence of the intellectual context of time on the changing ideological configuration of the union. The analysis demonstrates that in the context of the Cold War, post-colonial visions of Islamist trends, mainstream conservative nationalist political thought in Turkey and the principles of Naksibendi order had shaped the ideological configuration and strategy of the MTTB in a way that it acquired a distinct Islamic identity with a strong emphasis of the Ottoman past as a righteous model of political order and civilization.
Kimlik versus ahlak: Necip Fazıl Kısakürek ve Nurettin Topçu yazılarında İslam, modernite ve siyaset tahayyülleri
This dissertation analyzes diverging conceptions of Islam in the writings of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904-1983) and Nurettin Topçu (1909-1975), and ensuing differences in their critiques of Turkish modernization and their views on the relationship between Islam and politics. It proposes an analytical distinction between Islam-as-identity and Islam-as-morality to identify Kısakürek's and Topçu's competing conceptions of Islam respectively. Based on grounded theory approach, the dissertation suggests that Kısakürek presents Islam as a total ideology in the form of a system of beliefs and rules that encompasses all aspects of life. His conception Islam informs a vision of an alternative Islamic modernity that includes technological developments owned by Muslims, a form of capitalism run by Muslims, and a totalitarian modern state governed by Muslims. Kısakürek thereby represents Muslimness as an alternative way of being in the world that denotes a distinct political identity. Whereas, Topçu conceives of Islam as a framework for morality through which one connects to the transcendental, i.e. God. He characterizes Muslimness as a way of becoming, rather than a being, through leading a moral life. His conception of Islam-as-morality offers a holistic critique of the notion of modernity that extends to material aspects of modernity including technology and capitalism as well as modern political forms. These differences stemming from Kısakürek's and Topçu's conceptions of Islam have informed, on the one hand, dynamics of Turkish politics since their immediate context in early Cold War, and on the other hand, contemporary debates and divisions within Islamic intellectual movement in Turkey.
Din-laiklik karşıtlığını aşmak: Türkiye ve Pakistan'da ulus inşasında dinin dışlayıcı rolü
This study investigates the role of religion in nation building processes of Turkey and Pakistan. Current literature on these two countries is divided between those who claim that Islam was an essential arm of nation-building and those who claim that the role of Islam, if there was any, was merely instrumental and strategic. In that it reflects the divide in the wider literature on nationalism; between those who consider nationalism as a modern and secular(izing) phenomenon and those who underline the importance of pre-modern identities in general and religion in particular in the nation formation. This thesis aims to go beyond this dichotomy by pointing that religion in any nation-building plays a much more complex role. It can be crucial for nation-building at a certain stage, but it may be useless, irrelevant or even an impediment at another stage of nation-building. This dissertation argues that since nation-building is a process of homogenization, the role of religion can be best analyzed through its contribution to this process at the national level. Assimilation and exclusion are two means of homogenization and religion often contributes to national homogenization by excluding members of different religious communities. This is particularly true for the multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, with an imperial legacy. By understanding nation-building largely as a process of homogenization, this thesis builds on the legacy of Ernest Gellner and his works on nationalism. However, it aims to go beyond Gellner by bringing the role of religion to the process of homogenization. Another important aspect of this study is that homogenization is discussed in the context of the emergence of modern state and the transition from empire to nation-state. Key Words: Nation-building, Homogenization, Assimilation, Exclusion, Religion, Empires, Modern State
Toplumsal cinsiyet ve Türkiye'de geç modern milli öznelliğin inşası: Yerel siyasette İslami ve Kürt kadınlar
This dissertation looks at the self-narrations of the AKP and the BDP women local representatives and argues that a distinct female national subjectivity is constructed and performed throughout these narrations. Late 1990s is usually referred as a turning point in Turkish politics characterized by the electoral successes of the Islamic and Kurdish movements. The rhetoric of both these movements involves references to their political projects about redefining the bonds of nationhood in Turkey that is conceptualized in various terms such as 'new Turkey', 'peoples of Turkey' making peace and 'normalization of Turkish politics' to name some. The two political parties, namely the AKP and the BDP (now HDP) have introduced different constructions of 'alternative' national collectivity in this context. Patriarchal characteristic of the founding ideology of Turkish modernization is one of the issues that these two parties problematize in their alternative constructions of nationhood. The 'woman question' has been defined as one of the central issues in the party programs of both the AKP and the BDP. They are also the parties where high mobilization of women is observed. The questions that will be discussed throughout this study are: What kind of female subjects are produced throughout the actualization of these programs of two parties, do these subjects subvert, transform or reproduce patriarchal national authority? Focusing on the difference between the two, different notions of patriarchy that plays a constructive role in the formation of national subjects in this context is examined.
Fikir müteşebbisleri olarak Türkiye'de köşe yazarları, 1983-2007: Devlet tanımlamaları
The omnipotence of the state has been a dominant theme of discussions in Turkey for a long time. Though they have been a major party to these discussions due the fact that it was newspapers and periodicals that filled the large crevice left by the late development and dissemination of scholarly books in Turkey, columnists have been sorely understudied. In an attempt to help fill this void, this study discusses ten eminent Turkish columnists' conceptions of the state over a time period stretching from 1983 to 2007. Assuming columnists as 'idea entrepreneurs', who, create a sphere of influence with their ideas, and use this sphere to further create new ideas or transform existing ones thanks to networks provided by this sphere, this dissertation brings together three seemingly separate literatures on media, state and entrepreneurship. Data acquired from analysis of considerable number of columns and semi-structured elite interviews has been processed by using qualitative content analysis and archival document analysis. The data has been coded in reference to five themes: national security and survival of the state, order and stability, economy, the shrinking state, and the rule of law. This study contributes to the literature by bringing to the fore the following results: notwithstanding intensified emphasis on liberalizing state-society relations in that time period, it first shows that the state-centered ideas set the language of politics; the press deems itself as part of this state-centered language; considerable amount of columns still teetered between transcendentalism and instrumentalism in terms of their state perceptions. Keywords: Idea Entrepreneurs, Political Communication, State, Columnists, Turkish Politics
Millet iddiası, siyasetin ahlakileştirilmesi: Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Partisi liderlerinin otobiyografilerinde meşrutiyet anlatıları
In this dissertation, I examine how autobiographical writing becomes a peculiar political space for Kazım Karabekir, Ali Fuat Cebesoy and Rauf Orbay, three major leaders of the Turkish War of Independence and the Progressive Republican Party (PRP). I unpack how their autobiographies have continued to shape contemporary public de-bates on political legitimacy by redefining rulership, patriotism and the national character (milli karakter). The analysis of their autobiographies transcends the scholarly works that either view PRP as a peripheral opposition against a top-down modernist center or overemphasize the Unionist political legacy. Focusing on autobiographies instead of their party program reveals the most neglected aspect of their ideological legacy within the existing literature — an idiosyncratic form of elitist conservative nationalism along with this Unionist legacy. I offer an innovative interdisciplinary approach that expands the political science discipline with anthropological and literary analyses by demonstrating the centrality of contestations over nationalist morality in shaping the right-wing conservative politics in contemporary Turkey. I analyze PRP's legacy by looking at how these autobiographical texts extensively build on moralizing discourses that presume a form of virtue specific to the Turkish nation—national character. Through an intertextual politics the authors claim to embody a nationalist morality that rests on character traits and dispositions that were displayed during the Independence War. I suggest that moralizing discourses ultimately reframe a complex set of political disagreements of the time in terms of character and personality — those who are worthy of representing and governing the nation, vs. those who are not.
Devrim, modernleşme ve Arap Baharı
This dissertation critically examines how linguistic and discursive practices in global media discourses devalorize the revolutionary implications of the so called Arab Spring. By using media framing analysis it approaches the global media's construct of the Arab Spring as a revolutionary event in three steps. First, it analyzes framing and usage of the name Arab Spring, showing how the name itself implies two defining characteristics of the events: the Arabness and the Springness. Second, it focuses on the universal conception of revolution, questioning its relationship with Western modernity that affects the way global media approach and represent non-Western revolutions. Third, it compares global media practices with local media practices, highlighting how Eurocentric understanding of the events affects media reporting in global news outlets. The thesis finds that regional, cultural, and political peculiarities of the Arab Spring affected global media's reporting. When the global Western media approached the revolutions in the Arab world, the Arab Spring was not just a name; it became a condensation of political and social contexts that provided the meaning for the events. Western media has conceptualized the Arab Spring as a regional Arab event, a temporary awakening, that can suddenly turn into a suppression of will and progress. Further on the concept of revolution as used by the media failed to explain the events: first, because the concept is defined by its own Western identity; second, because it is defined with its own understanding of modernization and progress that is specific to the European context.
Türkiye'de Müslüman feminist bir STK: Havle Kadın Derneği örneği
This thesis focuses on the Islam-based feminist stance of Havle Women's Association (HWA), its intellectual offerings and unique place in Turkey's feminist movement. A newcomer to Turkey's feminist movement, HWA was founded in Istanbul in 2018 and framed itself as "the first Muslim Feminist Women's Association in Turkey". The thesis examines HWA as a case study of Muslim - decolonial feminism in Turkey. By engaging with Islamic feminism and decolonial feminism literature, the study aims to investigate whether HWA produces new feminist direction in Turkey, how does HWA formulate its identity towards authoritarian AKP rule, Western stereotyped feminism, and Sunni-orthodox Islam understanding. I claim that by rejecting AKP's enforced domination about gender roles and political implications, HWA produces an alternative framework for thinking about women's issues from a Qur'an-based perspective. Parallel to this, the NGO also serves as the first and only initiation to the practice of modern and global Muslim feminist conceptualization in Turkey. Besides, by challenging mainstream women identity formulations, resisting Islam-referenced patriarchy, AKP's hegemonic domination on gender-related matters and modernization and westernization stereotypes in Turkey, HWA produce an alternative perspective for its working area. Under the light of these, this study discusses HWA as a new intellectual direction for Turkey's feminist movement.