TURKS IN THE ARABIC NOVEL
Turks in the Arabic Novel discusses the historical roots of the portrayal of Turkish peoples in modern Arabic literature. The book attempts to determine the differences of the Turkish image in relation to the cultural and social class of the Arabic people. Further, the book attempts to shed light on the background of the Arab collective subconscious through which this image has been formed within modern day Arab society.
The introduction consists of subjects such as the relationship between image and literary text and considers the informative value of the image. In the first part entitled “The Historical Background of the Arabic Collective Subconscious”, the historical Turkish image presented in the relevant texts is discussed in the context of Turco-Arab relations. The second part entitled “The Path to Modern Egypt: History, Image, Idea and Literature” strives to illuminate how the general Turkish image in Arabic thought originated specifically in Egypt. In the third part entitled “The Turkish Image in Novels”, which constitutes the main axis of the book, novels written between 1798 and 1914 are analysed with reference to their historical context.
