The image of the “Turk” in Slovene culture in light of newspaper articles

Abstract

This contribution explores the Slovene view of Turks through an analysis of non-periodical printed matter from the 16th century and of newspaper articles published in Slovene lands from the 18th century to the present. This journalistic view was shaped by the historical experience from the time of the Turkish incursions. An extensive corpus of materials reveals an ambivalent attitude to Turks in the Slovene lands. On the one hand, journalism — under the influence of the Habsburg state framework and hence the Western political and historical discourse — portrays them in an extremely negative way as enemies of Christendom. On the other, as early as the 19th century liberal politicians in Slovene lands pointed out that such views were outdated and did not make sense. In the contemporary period, stereotypical thinking is yielding to intercultural dialogue.