Turkish people and Istanbul folk culture from Italians' point of view

After the conquest of Istanbul, Italians began considering Turkish people a symbol of what was different from them. The Ottomans represented a different religion, culture and political system. Italians developed a particular perception of Turkish people and a narrative about them. This was influenced both by official and unofficial relations. In the 21st Century new prejudices are added to the old ones. Among Italians, the most well-known Turkish city is Istanbul. Italians who moved to Istanbul, are creating a new Italian community there, in addition to the historical Levantine community. They try to decode the folk culture of the city in their daily life. In my thesis I researched the expressions of Italian folk culture about Turkish people, the 21st Century Italians' perception of Turkish people and the Italians' point of view on Istanbul and its folklore. The thesis is made of an introduction part and four chapters. In the introduction I explained the topic, the aim, and the method used. The first chapter is about the traces of historical relations with Turkish people in the Italians' daily life. In the second chapter I focused on Italians' perception of Turkish people. In the third chapter I examined some travel books of the 21st Century about Istanbul. Lastly, the fourth chapter is about the Italian community there. In the conclusion I elaborated some general considerations about the data obtained in this work. The survey about Italians' perception of Turkish people, and the interview with the members of the Italian community in Istanbul are given as examples in the appendix.