Session 5: Constructions of Otherness (and Self)

1st Global Conference

Tuesday 22nd September – Thursday 24th September 2009
Mansfield College, Oxford

The Representation of the Non-Muslims in the Ottoman-Turkish Popular Drama
D. Burcu Egilmez
Izmir Economy University

Regarding the primacy of Islam in the Ottoman Empire, it can be asserted that the ‘Self-Other’ dichotomy was established according to the religious rather than ethnic, linguistic, gender or class differences. In this respect, the Jew and Christian Subjects of the Empire were perceived as the ‘Other’.

This ‘Muslim Self’ and ‘non-Muslim Other’ dichotomy can be revealed out either by focusing on the institutional practices, or by analyzing the everyday practices. Analyzing the specific institutions and laws of the Empire may display the regulation of the ‘Other’ by legal means. Yet, there is hardly any attempt for understanding the perception, constitution and stereotyping of the ‘non-Muslim Other’ in the everyday lives of the Muslims. Without doubt, imagining and portraying the Ottoman daily life is an arduous effort. Yet, there are still important sources, like the folk culture that can give the clues of the perception of the world and the Subjects surrounding the Muslims.

In this respect, this paper attempts to explore the representation of the non-Muslims (Jews and Christians) in the Ottoman-Turkish popular drama in order to present an analysis of the perception of the ‘Other’ by the ordinary Muslim Subjects. As the Ottoman-Turkish popular drama is namely based on the shadow plays of ‘Karagoz’ and plays of ‘Ortaoyunu’, this research attempts to cover almost sixty recorded plays. Accordingly, it firstly aims to display the perception of the Christians and Jews in those plays by making a textual analysis of the dialogs between the characters. And secondly, it attempts to display the stereotypes and thus the images attributed to them. At the end, it also aims to display either there is a continuity or discontinuity between the State’s and ordinary Subjects’ perception of the ‘Other’.

Constructing ‘The Other’: Linguistic and Cultural Representations of Attitudes toward Foreigners in Poland
Elżbieta M. Goździak
Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) Georgetown University

Post-1989 transformations brought about profound changes in international migration in East/Central Europe. There was a four-fold increase in the number of foreigners coming to Poland between 1990 and 1997, which transformed Poland from one of the biggest emigration countries in the region into a country of net immigration and transit. There were 2.1 million foreigners in Poland in 2000, amounting to 5.4% of the total population. Completely new for this part of Europe groups of immigrants—including Vietnamese, Chinese, Armenians, and Chechens—began to settle in Poland, transforming the once homogenous Polish society into a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious one. These trends are likely to remain steady. Although Poland is attracting a growing number of immigrants, Poles are not well-equipped to interact with foreigners. Only 25% of Poles report having a personal acquaintance that is a foreigner living in Poland. Poles may not know foreigners well, but they have strong opinions about strangers. The “foreigner issue” in terms of labor migration is less explosive in comparison with Western Europe, but is gradually becoming an object of social conflict. Particularly easily identifiable groups, such as Vietnamese and Chinese, are targets of aggression. Poles are happy to host Westerners, but negative emotions are associated with newcomers from beyond Poland’s eastern border: Russians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, and the Roma who conjure images of criminals, members of the mafia or smugglers. This paper presents preliminary findings from an ethnographic research project exploring linguistic and cultural representations of attitudes toward foreigners in Poznań, Poland. It focuses in particular on the interplay between high-level rhetoric about foreigners/immigrants and lived experiences that affect people’s attitudes toward ‘The Other.’

Download Draft Conference Paper (pdf)

Australian Muslims’ Constructions of the Western Other
Lelia Green
Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia

A number of researchers have examined western media representations of Muslims. Some argue that these strengthen stereotypes and effectively homogenize diverse communities with different histories, migration backgrounds and ethnicities; artificially constructing them as a unified religious ‘other’. Acknowledging that many western countries place the responsibility for integration and adaptation upon their minority Muslim communities, this media coverage can be constructed as making such integration and adaptation more difficult.

The research project reported here was funded by the Australian Research Council and ran from 2005-8. It involved in-depth interviews with 60 Australians, from Muslim communities and the broader society, and was informed by ten focus groups. Focus groups were either broader community Australians, or self-identified Australian Muslims. A range of ages was involved. Several of the Muslim focus groups were segregated: male or female participants.

The key aim of the research was to move beyond examining media messages to an examination of different communities’ responses to western media. Were there significant differences in the ways in which Australian Muslims responded to media messages about ‘fear’ and ‘terror’ compared with the ways in which broader community Australians interpreted those same messages? Further, how did Australian Muslims construct the attitudes and perceptions of the broader community based on the media messages they received?

The research uncovered a range of specific fears experienced by Australian Muslims which differed from those expressed by the broader community. These fears stand alongside the significant frustrations felt by Australian Muslims at the western media’s failure to reflect their diversity and their everyday experience of being ‘othered’. One result of some Australian Muslims’ alienation from many of the images offered by the mainstream is to turn to minority and ethnic media, such as Al Jazeera and Al-Manar, where they can see their own understandings of fear and terror represented.