The image of the turk in early modern board games and playing cards
- Autores: Omer Fatih Parlak
- Directores de la Tesis: Lara Vilà i Tomàs (dir. tes.), María José Vega Ramos (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ( España ) en 2019
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Meri Torras Francès (presid.), Cesc Esteve i Mestre (secret.), Marcela Londoño Rendón (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura Comparada por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
- Resumen
A considerable amount of investigation has been done on the image of the Turk in European art, literature and other cultural productions. The existing accounts often result with repetitive conclusions that are revolving around a negative image attributed to the Turk. It is observed that this common problem derives from the lack of perspectival look at the subject matter. More recently, research has emerged that offers different perspectives with new findings that contradict previous literature. In the light of this new literature, the Turk has been re-conceptualized as a multifaceted image. However, the lack of investigation proposing new perspectives still remains as a major issue in the field.
This research critically examines the image of the Turk that appears in early modern board games and playing cards produced in Europe, a hitherto untouched domain in this regard. Data for this study was collected from the online and otherwise archives of various museums in Europe, catalogs, private collections and other relevant literature. The collected data was enlisted in the Games Index, which includes printed and manufactured board games, packs of playing cards, and game counters. The Index currently contains 107 unique items from six European countries as their place of origin. Then, a qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the various ways the Turk was represented in a number of games which were selected according to the quality of the depiction and the function of the Turk in the game. The findings make an important contribution to the idea that perceives the Turk as a multifaceted image. The most obvious conclusion to obtain from this thesis is that the image of the Turk has never been a static one; on the contrary, it has evolved and gained different meanings throughout its history in Europe.
