Europa und die Türkei im 18. Jahrhundert / Europe and Turkey in the 18th Century

Prof. Dr. Barbara Schmidt-Haberkamp lehrt am Institut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie der Universität Bonn.

The contributions to this volume explore intercultural contacts and the reciprocal perceptions between Turkey and Europe in the eighteenth century. 'The dangerous Turk', one of the most antagonistic narratives in early modern times, lost impact after the Ottoman defeat in the second siege of Vienna 1683. The image of the Turk changed from the menacing, invincible terror of Christendom to that of a quaint and exotic neighbour. The result was a broad, partly euphoric acceptance and blending of Ottoman culture into the political, scientific, economic and aesthetic discourses of the eighteenth century. Conversely, the European impact on the socio-political and cultural life of the Ottoman Empire increased at the beginning of the eighteenth century. From the perspective of a variety of different academic disciplines, the contributions to this volume explore the following questions: What possibilities were there to form an idea of the "other" and to what extent was this idea founded on autistic self-assertion on the one hand, on curiosity and creative appropriation on the other? What forms of intercultural contacts existed and how have they been documented?