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Turkey: Identity Metamorphosis Publisher: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais of the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Lisbon, ISBN 972-671-148-7, May 2005 |
Abstract
In this study, I will focus on the changing of the former Ottoman Empire into the current Republic of Turkey, which seems to me one of the most striking, complex and multi-faceted cases, entailing the reconstruction of a cultural/social/national identity one can find in the 20th and 21st centuries. I argue that on the one hand, it involved an effort of cultural metamorphosis, perceived abroad as «westerniser», and regarded as unique within an Euro-Asiatic context, since it takes place between two clear-cut and historically rival civilizations: the West and Islam. On the other hand, the fact that Turkey may well become a member-state of the European Union is a matter of concern. The latter is the heir of a metamorphosed Europe with fuzzy contours and questing for its identity such an issue at the core of the current political agenda. Thus, its seems important to have some insight on what is at stake in this process, since it will influence, for better or worse, and to a great extent, the future of the Europeans in the 21st century.