Voltaire'in Le fanatisme ou Mahomet le prophète ve Chateaubriand'ın Les aventures du dernier Abencerage başlıklı yapıtlarında yazarın "öteki-karakter" aracılığıyla görünen kimliği

The thesis comprises of three parts, including the introduction in which the subject is explained thoroughly and the choice of emphasized points is touched upon. Each one of the other two parts is dedicated to one of the chosen writers. The common point of the examined works is that both of them have eastern protagonists, which constitutes the point of departure. The fact that the selected writers have different world views and beliefs play a very important role, as real life opinions and impressions are not in parallel with the representation of characters: Despite his prejudiced and scornful attitude against Muslims, Chateaubriand creates and idealized hero who is a descendant of the only group of Mohammedans of whom he speaks respectfully in his memoires. Voltaire, who is not more hostile to Islam than he is to any other religion, conveys his standpoint against religious bigotry through a negative depiction of Prophet Mohammed, although he doesn't actually aim to vilify Muslims. The subject of the thesis suggests that the depiction of these characters reflect certain aspects of the author's identity rather than what the latter thinks of the race, culture or religion to which the character belongs. In order to emphasize clearly the context of writer/character, both the first and the second parts include the biography of the writer and a profound analysis of his selected work. Finally, the conclusion highlights the essential points of the main purpose of the thesis and offers an introduction to another work of similar nature.