Depiction of Turkish women and the harem life in the memoirs of some women writers in the early 20th century

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of the ways in which Turkish women are depicted in the memoirs of some women writers in the early 20th century. This period in history, which corresponds to one of the most important eras of the Turkish woman, was one of self-consciousness and cultural search. The analysis of the depiction of Turkish women by Turkish and foreigner women writers in that era is of utmost importance since the discourses on women in Turkey were shaped in that way. This article analyses the portrayal of Turkish women in general and the social role of women in particular by taking the below-given memoirs and some others into account. Demetra Vaka Brown's Haremlik: Some Pages from the Life of Turkish Women (1909), Hester Donaldson Jenkins’ Behind Turkish Lattices: The Story of a Turkish Woman's Life (1911), Zeyneb Hanoum’s A Turkish Woman's European Impressions (1913), Grace Ellison’s An English Woman in a Turkish Harem (1915), Selma Ekrem’s Unveiled: The Autobiography of a Turkish Girl (1930)