Representations and Othering in Discourse

“Europe is haunted by many historical ghosts and ‘the Turk’ is one of them, one that reaches back into our past and still hovers in our folk memories. Europeans again find themselves in a historical context where they urgently seek an understanding of their relationship to modern Turkey, indeed an understanding of their own identity in terms of this relationship. In particular, we can see this in the history of France and French culture. Beyza Tekin’s book helps us make sense of the complexities in an unusually detailed and explicit way by deploying the sophisticated techniques we now have for the analysis of discourse. This is a book with historical depth. It is also a book that offers precise analysis. Historians, sociologists, policymakers, as well as discourse analysts — all have much to learn from this book.”

“All in all, the book presents a strong and detailed discourse analysis of French politics in Turkey’s EU membership discussions. The sociohistorical context of the study helps the reader to understand the construction of Turkey in the EU context and how its ‘Otherness’ constitutes the French politicians approach to the Turkish case.”

“This is an original and insightful study of the construction of Turkey in French political discourse and offers a valuable analysis of the formation of European identity.”

“This study enables readers to attain a deeper understanding of how (and also why) Turkey’s prospective EU membership is construed the way it is in the political discourse of many European countries. Arguments used by representatives of the French political elite cited here are found also in German and Austrian debates. Unlike previous studies on European media representations of Turkey, the textual analyses in the second half of Tekin’s work are firmly grounded in the preceding detailed (and engaging) overview of French perceptions of Turkey from a socio-historical perspective. This initial section alone has great value, particularly for readers to whom the original historical French texts might not be accessible. The monograph contributes to the growing body of work on identity studies and nationalism in international relations and complements other more theoretical works by its empirical, data-driven approach. Apart from being of obvious relevance to students and scholars of the EU and international relations, Tekin’s use of a well known theoretical framework from critical discourse analysis will also be of interest to those in the field of linguistics.”

“From the Saracen slayer to the ally of renaissance Kings to civilisation’s apprentice to hotly contested EU applicant — here the changing social fact of Turkey in French discourse is given its fullest treatment to date.”

“Tekin’s wonderfully researched book serves as an invaluable repository for this panoply of French images of Turkey and Turks and of the manner in which they are employed, and it is this that makes it such a rewarding read. It superbly illustrates how the selective use of history and the manner of its articulation can support essentialist opposition to Turkey’s EU accession as well as its integration.”