XVII. Yüzyıl Batılı Seyyahların Eserlerinde ve Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesinde Etnik Klişeleştirme

Abstract

In the seventeenth century, compared to other times, a large number of European travelers visited the Ottoman Empire and published these visits in the form of travelogues, a genre that was widely read in Europe at that time. While this is the situation in Europe, there was no printing press in the Ottoman Empire yet; it was not common to travel without a compelling reason such as public work or business. The visits of European travelers to the Ottoman Empire lead them to observe the Ottoman society and the members of the Ottoman society to observe them.. While reading the European side of these observations from travel books, it is possible to read the Ottoman side from the travel book of Evliya Çelebi, which is the only work of this scale currently known. Looking at these observations, it is seen that each side defines the other with a set of stereotypes that are mostly ungrounded . The use of the term "ethnic stereotyping" in studies in the field belongs to Robert Dankoff. Some of these clichés have lost in time, and some have paved the way for ethnic and religious stereotypes that exist today. Our aim in this study is to identify these ethnic-based stereotypes used by some Western travelers who visited the Ottoman lands in the seventeenth century, and Evliya Çelebi and to compare the ways in which the parties perceive each other.
 As a result of the research, it was seen that; Western travelers in the seventeenth century had various prejudices about not only Turks living here but also other Christian groups, and these prejudices led to some stereotypes. However, a similar attitude is also valid for Evliya Çelebi for the same period. Evliya Çelebi also used various stereotypes related to many ethnic groups, including Turks.