Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:45:17.360Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Politics of Emotions and Spectacles: The Case of the Turkish Language Olympiads

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2019

Senem Aslan
Senem Aslan*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: saslan@bates.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the Turkish Language Olympiads as a political-performative strategy that the Muslim nationalists used to communicate their ideology. I argue that to understand the rise of Muslim nationalism, we also need to understand how emotional appeal is created through spectacles like the Turkish Olympiads. The spectacle was effective in boosting people’s sense of national pride and self-confidence by resolving two important tensions of Kemalist nationalism. First, it addressed the tension between Westernization and nationalization. Depicting an image of Turkish national culture that is appreciated and imitated by foreigners, it contested the imitative, Westernist character of Kemalist nationalism. Second, recasting the outside world as friendly to Turks, even Turkophile, it challenged Kemalist nationalism’s emphasis on external threats. Turkish-speaking and -acting foreigners communicated a message of nationalist self-empowerment and confidence, calling into question people’s sense of fear and distrust of the outside world. How Muslim nationalism was promoted, particularly the performative-symbolic strategies that were used, are important to understand because of their emotional resonance and potential for mass mobilization.

Keywords

Muslim nationalismKemalist nationalismspectaclesperformative strategiesthe politics of emotions
Type
Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 48 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue on National Cultural Autonomy in Diverse Political Communities: Practices, Challenges, and Perspectives , March 2020 , pp. 388 - 403
Copyright
© Association for the Study of Nationalities 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akçam, Taner. 2004. From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Aktürk, Şener. 2018. “One Nation Under Allah? Islamic Multiculturalism, Muslim Nationalism and Turkey’s Reforms for Kurds, Alevis, and Non-Muslims.” Turkish Studies 19 (4): 523–551.Google Scholar
Altınordu, Ateş. 2016. “The Political Incorporation of Anti-System Religious Parties: The Case of Turkish Political Islam (1994–2011).” Qualitative Sociology 39: 147–171.Google Scholar
Aslan, Senem. 2015. “Different Faces of Turkish Islamic Nationalism.” The Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog, February 20. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/20/different-faces-of-turkish-islamic-nationalism/Google Scholar
Berezin, Mabel. 2001. “Emotions and Political Identity: Mobilizing Affection for the Polity.” In Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements, edited by Goodwin, Jeff, Jasper, James M., and Polletta, Francesca, 83–98. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bora, Tanıl. 2004. “Nationalism in Textbooks.” In Human Rights Issues in Textbooks: The Turkish Case, edited by Ceylan, Deniz Tarba and Irzık, Gürol, 49–75. Istanbul: the History Foundation of Turkey.Google Scholar
Bora, Tanıl. 2011. “Nationalist Discourses in Turkey.” In Symbiotic Antagonisms: Competing Nationalisms in Turkey, edited by Kadıoğlu, Ayşe and Keyman, Fuat, 57–81. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.Google Scholar
Brader, Ted. 2005. “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science 49 (2): 388–405.Google Scholar
Buğra, Ayşe, and Candaş, Ayşen. 2011. “Change and Continuity Under an Eclectic Social Security Regime: The Case of Turkey.” Middle Eastern Studies 47 (3): 515–528.Google Scholar
Çağaptay, Soner. 2004. “Race, Assimilation, and Kemalism: Turkish Nationalism and the Minorities in the 1930s.” Middle Eastern Studies 40 (3): 86–101.Google Scholar
Çarkoğlu, Ali, and Kentmen, Çiğdem. 2011. “Diagnosing Trends and Determinants in Public Support for Turkey’s EU Membership.” South European Society and Politics 16 (3): 365–379.Google Scholar
Çarkoğlu, Ali, and Kalaycıoğlu, Ersin. 2014. ISPP 2013 Raporu: Türkiye’de ve Dünyada Milliyetçilik. Istanbul: Sabancı University, Istanbul Politikalar Merkezi. http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/publication/ispp-2013-raporu-dunyada-ve-turkiyede-milliyetcilik/?lang=enGoogle Scholar
Chatterjee, Partha. 1993. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Çınar, Alev. 2001. “National History as a Contested Site: The Conquest of Istanbul and Islamist Negotiations of the Nation.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 43 (2): 364–391.Google Scholar
Çınar, Alev. 2010. “Globalism as the Product of Nationalism: Founding Ideology and the Erasure of the Local in Turkey.” Theory, Culture & Society 27 (4): 90–118.Google Scholar
Çınar, Alev, and Taş, Hakkı. 2017. “Politics of Nationhood and the Displacement of the Founding Moment: Contending Histories of the Turkish Nation.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 59 (3): 657–689.Google Scholar
Collins, Randall. 2001. “Social Movements and the Focus of Emotional Attention.” In Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements, edited by Goodwin, Jeff, Jasper, James M., and Polletta, Francesca, 27–44. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Doğan, Sevinç. 2016. Mahalledeki AKP: Parti İşleyişi, Taban Mobilizasyonu ve Siyasal Yabancılaşma. Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları.Google Scholar
Durkheim, Emile. 2001. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford World’s Classics, translated by Carol Cosman. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Erdoğan, Emre. 2013. “Türkiye’nin Yalnızlığı: Karşılaştırmalı Kamuoyu Araştırmalarının Özet Değerlendirmesi.” In Yalnız ve Endişeli Ülke Türkiye. Istanbul: Açık Toplum Vakfı. http://www.aciktoplumvakfi.org.tr/pdf/yalniz_ve_endiseli_ulke_turkiye.pdfGoogle Scholar
Groenendyk, Eric. 2011. “Current Emotion Research in Political Science: How Emotions Help Democracy Overcome Its Collective Action Problem.” Emotion Review 3 (4): 455–463.Google Scholar
Gülen, Fethullah. 2016. “I Condemn All Threats to Turkey’s Democracy.” The New York Times, July 25. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/opinion/fethullah-gulen-i-condemn-all-threats-to-turkeys-democracy.html?_r=0.Google Scholar
Hegghammer, Thomas. 2017. “Introduction: What Is Jihadi Culture and Why Should We Study It?” In Jihadi Culture: The Art and Social Practices of Militant Islamists, edited by Hegghammer, Thomas, 1–21. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hendrick, Joshua D. 2013. Gülen: The Ambiguous Politics of Market Islam in Turkey and the World. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
İnsel, Ahmet. 2013. “Becoming a World Economic Power: The Neo-Nationalism of the AKP.” In Turkey between Nationalism and Globalization, edited by Kastoryano, Riva, 187–198. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Internet Haber. 2013. “TurkceOlimpiyatlarının Sponsorları Belli Oldu,” May 22. https://www.internethaber.com/turkce-olimpiyatlarinin-sponsorlari-bellioldu-538038h.html.Google Scholar
Kadıoğlu, Ayşe. 1996. “The Paradox of Turkish Nationalism and the Construction of Official Identity.” Middle Eastern Studies 32 (2): 177–193.Google Scholar
Karaaslan, Ceyda. 2012. “Protokole Reis Ayarı.” Sabah, May 14. https://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2012/05/14/devlet-protokolunde-sivillesme-donemi?paging=2.Google Scholar
Kertzer, David I. 1988. Ritual, Politics, and Power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kingsley, Patrick. 2017. “Erdogan and Supporters Stage Rally on Anniversary of Failed Coup.” The New York Times, July 16. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/16/world/europe/turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-rally-coup.html.Google Scholar
Klatch, Rebecca E. 1988. “Of Meanings & Masters: Political Symbolism and Symbolic Action.” Polity 21 (1): 137–154.Google Scholar
Koyuncu-Lorasdağı, Berrin. 2010. “The Prospects and Pitfalls of the Religious Nationalist Movement in Turkey: The Case of the Gülen Movement.” Middle Eastern Studies 46 (2): 221–234.Google Scholar
Moffitt, Benjamin. 2016. The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mosse, George L. 1975. The Nationalization of the Masses: Political Symbolism and Mass Movements in Germany from the Napoleonic Wars Through the Third Reich. New York: Howard Fertig.Google Scholar
Ozouf, Mona. 1988. Festivals and the French Revolution. Translated by Alan Sheridan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Öniş, Ziya. 2006. “The Political Economy of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party.” In The Emergence of a New Turkey: Islam, Democracy, and the Emergence of the AK Parti, edited by Yavuz, Hakan, 207–234. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.Google Scholar
Özbudun, Ergun. 2006. “From Political Islam to Conservative Democracy: The Case of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey.” South European Society & Politics 11 (3–4): 543–557.Google Scholar
Özkan, Mehmet, and Akgün, Birol. 2010. “Turkey’s Opening to Africa.” Journal of Modern African Studies 48 (4): 525–546.Google Scholar
Öztürkmen, Arzu. 2001. “Celebrating National Holidays in Turkey: History and Memory.” New Perspectives on Turkey 25: 47–75.Google Scholar
Özyürek, Esra. 2006. Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Páez, Dario, and Rimé, Bernard. 2014. “Collective Emotional Gatherings: Their Impact Upon Identity Fusion, Shared Beliefs, and Social Integration.” In Collective Emotions: Perspectives from Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology, edited by von Scheve, Christian and Salmela, Mikko, 204–216. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pearlman, Wendy. 2013. “Emotions and the Microfoundations of the Arab Uprisings.” Perspectives on Politics 11 (2): 387–409.Google Scholar
Podeh, Elie. 2011. The Politics of National Celebrations in the Arab Middle East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Skey, Michael. “Carnivals of Surplus Emotion? Towards an Understanding of the Significance of Ecstatic Nationalism in a Globalising World.” Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 6 (2): 143–161.Google Scholar
Taş, Hakkı. 2018. “A History of Turkey’s AKP-Gülen Conflict.” Mediterranean Politics 23 (3): 395–402.Google Scholar
Tee, Caroline. 2018. “The Gülen Movement in London and the Politics of Public Engagement: Producing ‘Good Islam’ Before and After 15 July.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 19 (1): 109–122.Google Scholar
Turam, Berna. 2007. Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Watmough, Simon P., and Öztürk, Ahmet Erdi. 2018. “From ‘Diaspora By Design’ to Transnational Political Exile: The Gülen Movement in Transition.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 19 (1): 33–52.Google Scholar
White, Jenny. 2002. Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
White, Jenny. 2013. Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Yavuz, Hakan. 2018. “A Framework for Understanding the Intra-Islamist Conflict Between the AK Party and the Gülen Movement.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 19 (1): 11–32.Google Scholar
Yılmaz, Hakan. 2011. “Euroskepticism in Turkey: Parties, Elites, and Public Opinion.” South European Society and Politics 16 (1): 185–208.Google Scholar
Yörük, Erdem. 2012. “Welfare Provision as Political Containment: The Politics of Social Assistance and the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey.” Politics & Society 40 (4): 517–547.Google Scholar
Zencirci, Gizem. 2012. “Secularism, Islam, and the National Public Sphere: Politics of Commemorative Practices in Turkey.” In Visualizing Secularism and Religion: Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, India, edited by Çınar, Alev and Roy, Srirupa, 93–109. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar