Prototypes of the Turk in British Perceptions

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the very prototypes in the eyes of British despite dynamic changes over different phases in history. It is based on the diachronic study on British accounts of the Ottoman Empire including monographs, travelogues, recollections, journals. My exploration of these descriptions reveals that British perceptions of Turk exhibited incessant stereotyped negative facets although in the zenith as well as decline of the Ottoman Empire the prototypes of the Turks are balanced by British admiration for their meritocracy, strong army and reforming spirit. I suggest the British negative representations the Turk survive over the passage of time and serve to construct the national Self of the former in a more positive light.