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Articles published in Eurozine
The city
In a text first published in Varlik magazine in 1962, the great Turkish novelist, poet and politician Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar addresses what he saw as the demise of the Istanbul of his day. [more]
Being recognized abroad
In an article published in 1966, the Turkish poet and journalist Attila Ilhan argued that Turkish literature was far from having gained real recognition abroad. Is the situation substantially different now, despite the Frankfurt accolade? [more]
Understanding the West
In a text first published in Varlik in 1954, the Turkish writer Selahattin Batu sees westernization as both a destructive and progressive force. Striking is how such ambivalence continues in today's discourse. [more]
The re-transnationalization of literary criticism
Critical discussion of foreign literature serves as a source of information not only for readers but also for the "trade". When that discussion disappears or becomes one-sided, this has consequences for the literary institution as a whole. [French version added] [more]
Literary perspectives: Northern Ireland
Shaking the hand of history
While the Northern Irish literary tradition is closely bound up with the experience of sectarian violence, contemporary Northern Irish poets and prose writers defy the assumption that "the troubles" are all there is to the country's literature. [German version added] [more]
Normality or normalities?
From one transition to the next
For eastern Europeans, the myth of a free and prosperous West, of western normality, has been replaced by the observation of normalities, writes Mircea Vasilescu. Having joined the EU, Romanians are discovering that the West has problems by no means as exotic as they once believed. [Turkish version added] [more]
Bathroom tales
How we mistook normality for paradise
The shortage of toilet paper alone may not have brought down communism, but it's an apt metaphor for a system unable to fulfil people's basic needs. Although Slavenka Drakulic's bathroom is better stocked these days, she's still prone to doubt. Was the normality she and her fellow eastern Europeans longed for just another false paradise? [Turkish version added] [more]
The production of intelligibility
An interview with Mahmut Mutman
Cultural polarization between east and west makes intelligible the chaos wrought by capitalism. This economic factor is ignored by western critics of Turkey's democratic deficit. The Turkish left, meanwhile, waits passively for democratic reform via EU alignment, or reverts to reactionary nationalism. [more]
Phobocity
London and the War on Terror
In London post-7/7, the wail of police sirens has become the soundtrack of the "phobocity". But the phobocity is not created by the suicide bombers alone -- politicians and journalists also trade on fear. [more]
The Polish plumber and the image game
The Polish plumber is a cliché throughout Europe, which even the Polish tourist board has made use of. However, in the UK the joke veils a growing resentment towards workers from the new EU states. [more]
Turkey and Europe: Neighbours from afar
Maurice Blanchot's theory of the "infinite distance" inherent in friendship can be a parameter for understanding Turkey's relationship with the EU and the West, argues Hasan Bülent Kahraman [more]
The Beur uprising
Poverty and Muslim atheists in France
it is not so much cultural difference and Islamism that is taking young Muslims to the street as a mass reaction to two centuries of colonialism and racism, compounded by recent poverty and exclusion. [more]
From neighbourhood to citizenship
EU and Turkey
For those in favour of "deepening" the EU, the presumed otherness of Islam is cause for alarm; for those in favour of "widening", Turkey's economic and geo-strategic potential counts in its favour. [more]
At the margins of Europe
Russia and Turkey
November 2005 saw the opening of the monumental Blue Stream pipeline, which pumps natural gas from Russia across the Black Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. Is a new Eurasian alliance forming at the margins of Europe? [more]
The "Siedlung" and the "Mahalle"
The two-way development of the modern residential neighbourhood in Turkey and Germany demonstrates the shortcomings of a polarized discussion of Turkey and Europe, writes Esra Akcan. [more]
Translation as tragedy and farce
The politics and politicians of translation in post-Soviet Russia
In today's Russia, the problem of translation is one of quality and accessibility rather than quantity. [more]
Energizing the European public space
There is only one path open to meeting the challenge posed by a heterogeneous collective of nationally oriented viewers, listeners, and readers: a European public space spearheaded by already established national media. [more]
The leisure class and I
On the timeliness of Thorstein Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class". [more]
The EU's cultural policies
The creation of a European identity has been given priority by the European Union Administration during the past ten years. But who shall benefit from it? [more]
How the "divan" became the "couch"
From the Eurozine archives: Freud's idea for the psychoanalytic "couch" -- the most potent symbol of Freudian psychoanalysis -- stems from his interest in Turkey and his fascination with the divan, explains Sebnem Senyener. [more]
City in the distance, distance in the city
On the allure of the great metropolises. [more]
Translating the translation
Critical trends are shaping the field of translation studies. [more]
The reason of borders or a border reason?
Translation as a metaphor for our times
How does translation affect and change our notions of multiculturalism and cultural identity? [more]
Why there is a Turkish carpet on the psychiatric couch
Modern Turkish secularism versus Islamic traditions? The world according to prime minister Erdogan. [more]
Uses of human blood
Are the US going back to the McCarthy era and was the invasion of Iraq the beginning of a dark age? [more]
America's dilemma
After the Iraq invasion, Americans are faced with an impossible choice on how to judge their government's "pre-emptive" war doctrine, argues George Blecher. [more]
A political earthquake in Turkey
An analysis of the prospects of the JDP government in Turkey
Can the victorious JDP party reconcile its promises to the Turkish voters with its international obligations? [more]
Belonging to the West
An 800 year old dream
Reflections on Turkey, the European Union and the death penalty. [more]
The life and death of the terrible Turk
The strange life of a Turkish wrestling champion. [more]
Turkey and the Iraqi war
What are the effects of the Iraqi war on its neighbour Turkey? [more]
Is there anybody out there?
What happened to the anti-war protestors and the peace movement? [more]