Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, cilt.0, ss.462-473, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Orientalist Impressions in Diary of a Woman Traveller in Turkey by Marcelle
Tinayre
Abstract
The history of French travellers in the East begins in large part from the Middle Ages mainly for two
purposes: Jerusalem, place of pilgrimage and Constantinople, the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
Constantinople, under the new name of Istanbul, became both Turkish and Muslim in 1453,
becoming one of the most established oriental subjects in travelogues over the centuries. These travel
stories bear witness to the practice of travel, but also to the intercultural relationship between the
peoples of the “East” and the “West”. Both a travel experience and a literary discourse, these journeys
depend closely on historical, cultural and political contexts. Among the writers of the early twentieth
century appears a French travel-writer Marcelle Tinayre, caught our attention with her work: Diary
of a Woman Traveller in Turkey. Having friendly relations with the Young Turks, this French novelist
talks about the Young Turks who opposed of the authoritarian regime of Sultan Abdulhamid II and
escaped from pressures of the Sultan and settled in Paris. When the days of exile are over and these
Young Turks return home, Tinayre does not forget them and comes to Istanbul to see them. During
her time in the Ottoman Empire, she was closely interested in the Ottoman society of the time. She
expresses her interests, both with the leaders of "Young Turks" and the people and the daily life of
the society in her work. She reflects her experiences and her impressions on the institutions and the
customs with an Orientalist perspective. In this work, we will examine the Orientalist impressions of
Tinayre on the changing Turkish society at the dawn of the 20th century.