Cenap Şahabettin'in seyahat mektuplarında oryantalist etkiler

This thesis is about the depiction of the East and the representations of the Easterners in the works by the Turkish poet and author Cenap Şahabettin. Cenap wrote three pieces of travel literature after his official and touristic visits to the region: “Hac Yolunda” (“On the Road to Hadj”), “Âfâk-ı Irak” (“The Horizons of Iraq”), “Suriye Mektupları” (“Letters from Syria”). Cenap was educated in Istanbul and in Paris to become a dermatologist who was appointed public health officer in Egypt and then in Iraq. Being impressed by the beauty of the region and the virtuousness of the indigenous people, Cenap made several trips to Alexandria, Cairo, the Red Sea, Shatt al-Arab, Baghdad and Damascus. Similar to the disparities between the East and the West, established by French and English travellers, Cenap Şahabettin contrasted the eastern lands of the Empire to its centre. Nourished by the relevant works by Edward Said, Ussama Makdisi, Jale Parla and Thierry Hentsch, the thesis asserts that while reproducing the stereotypes about the Eastern people like being lazy, ignorant, sensual and childish, Cenap Şahabettin argues that they need a hand in modernizing and suggests that the Ottoman hand would be better one.