From national humiliation to difference: The image of the Circassian beauty in the discourses of Circassian diaspora nationalists

DOĞAN S. N.

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TURKEY, sa.42, ss.77-101, 2010 (SSCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2010
  • Dergi Adı: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TURKEY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.77-101
  • Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Circassian Beauty, attributed to the women of the Caucasus, is a historical image of idealized feminine aesthetics that has prevailed in Orientalist literature, art and knowledge production as well as Turkish popular culture. This article argues that this image has been central to the gendered construction of diasporic identity among Circassian diaspora nationalists in Turkey. It aims to explore the multiple meanings attached to the image of the Circassian Beauty, and the ways in which these meanings are historically transformed in line with the political and historical transformations of the Circassian diaspora in Turkey.