Questioning Turkish Feminism and Modernity

[murat g]

Turkey, a land rich with culture and delight, stands as a nation circumventing categorization.  The majority of its inhabitants identify with Islam (the majority being Sunnis), and a strict separation between religion and state—or secularism—is enforced by the Turkish military. This secular-religious divide that serves as the backbone of the Republic of Turkey was established by its first President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923, and includes a series of political, social, and cultural reforms, such as the institution of a public dress code, that deconstructed the patriarchal hierarchy of the Ottoman Empire and increased women’s rights.
Yet, the nation—the only Muslim nation with EU candidacy status—serves as a potential treasure trove for explorations of gender, rhetoric, female advancement, and general social discourse.  This modern nation, grappling with its place in Eastern and Western geopolitics and discourse, can teach us about the continual role of women, their transnational value and nature, and of how women are still overlooked, underrepresented, and undervalued.  Of course, Turkey also stands to show us the aptitude, progress, and power enabled within the fairer sex.
            This anthology seeks to explore the discursive and transnational nature of feminism in modern Turkey.  We are looking for creative, and fresh, approaches that grapple with the meaning of feminism in a changing world.  Many gendered reforms were handed down from the state in Turkey, yet these acts do not mean Turkey lacks a feminist voice, movement, or active pulse.  Instead, the role of women is just as vital in Turkey as it is elsewhere.

Topics of potential inclusion

the rise of the Turkish Republic, specifically with Atatürk’s reforms aimed at women
Myths of gender in Turkey
Social activism at home and abroad
Community organization
Rural women
the media’s role in displacing women
the media’s role in rallying women
feminism in literature
anti-feminists characters in popular culture
traditional modes of femininity
comparative roles of women
Kemlism
Transnational explorations of women


            We are seeking proposals for articles (4000-7000 words in length) that address questions of Turkish feminism during the twentieth century.  Please send your proposal (250 words) and a cv to: turkish...@gmail.com by March 1, 2015.  For those whose proposals are accepted, completed articles will be due by July 15, 2015.  Any questions can be directed to: turkish...@gmail.com.
--
Annessa Ann Babic, PhD


New York Institute of Technology
Coordinator Interdisciplinary Studies, Old Westbury

Laurence Raw,
Baskent University.
Department of English, Ankara, Turkey.