Representation of the “Others”: Image of Muslim Turks on the Restoration Stage

Abstract

The Muslim world is considered as the “other” by the Europeans throughout centuries. The territorial expansion of the Ottomans and the route control of the world trade worried England. Thousands of Turks and Moors traveled to England during the early seventeenth century. The English were acquainted with Turkish literature, culture, history, and religion through travel books. In the western perspective, this interaction with an Islamic country like the Ottomans brought mostly a negative image. The recognition of the Ottomans and Islam consisted of a mixture of fear, bewilderment, and uneasiness. Fear of the “revolt of Islam” haunted the mind of Europe, which made grounds for constituting a racialized subjectivity. It certainly created the image of an enemy who was “cruel”, “barbaric”, “devastating” and a “threat for Christianity”. Racialization of Muslim Turks and their negative image as “devastating” Turks can clearly be observed in British literature, especially on the Restoration stage.