Relocating the Fault Lines

Islamic but secular, ambivalent about its Ottoman past, and anxious for membership in the European Union, Turkey seems to be easily cast - in terms of its geographical and cultural situatedness - as a bridge between the East and the West. However, Relocating the Fault Lines asserts that contemporary Turkey can no longer be defined by such a simple framework. In recent decades, Turkish economy, society, and culture have undergone intense changes affected by influences other than Western modernity. Issues of national identity are being transformed by such phenomena as the rise of political Islam, integration into a global economy, ethnic conflict, and women's struggles for autonomy. This special issue of SAQ explores how these redefinitions are occurring in the areas of art, literature, and popular culture as well as economy and politics. The essays examine the preoccupation of modern Turkish literature and popular culture with notions of imitation and authenticity, as well as the ways in which the country's secularization serves to promote an "official Islam". Contributors: Hulya Adak, Meltem Ahska, Ayse Gul Altnay, Tanl Bora, Ayse Bugra, Umit Cizre, Menderes Cnar, Andrew Davison, Tuna Erdem, Suna Ertugrul, Kathy Ewing, Erdag Goknar, Nurdan Gulalp, Sibel Irzk, Orhan Kocak, Bruce Kuniholm, Jale Parla, Nukhet Sirman, Levent Soysal, and Necmi Zeka.