A NEW IMPERIAL ORDER: THE EUROPEAN RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIENT IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY AND THE ROLE OF THE BRITISH PERIODICALS

Authors : Mehmet Önder Göncüoğlu

Pages : 111-140

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Publication Date : 2016-08-12

Article Type : Research

Abstract :The nineteenth century was the century of Europe. Most of the earth’s surface passed under the control of one or another of the European powers. Both the need for raw materials and new markets caused industrializing European powers such as Germany, Italy, France, and Britain to compete ruthlessly with one another for overseas territorial acquisitions. This rivalry between European countries and Russia played an important role in the development of the West’s relationship with the world as a whole. Britain, specifically, as it traded and ruled in lands far from its shores, literally created a new world order, thereby causing the emergence of new understandings of some once wealthy empires with their own authentic cultural aspects. As a result, Western periodicals in general, and British periodicals in particular included the sketches, cartoons and drawings regarding the events occurring during this rivalry. In this respect, I will explore and discuss some selected visual materials focusing on the representation of the Ottoman Empire mostly published in well-known late nineteenth-century British periodicals such as Punch and Harper’s Weekly, and show how they functioned in terms of their discursive strategies with regard to imperialist propaganda or criticism of their own empires.
Keywords : Yeni emperyalizm, ‘büyük oyun’, Afrika’nın paylaşılması, doğu meselesi, geç on dokuzuncu yüzyıl, görsel inşa, dergi, süreli yayınlar, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu