The "Anti-Nationalist" Liberation of Turkish Historiography

This study examines the distinct
approaches to the Byzantine legacy in Turkish historiography
offered by three leading Turkish historians: Fuat Kprl,
mer Ltfi Barkan and Halil Inalcik, protagonists of three
distinct eras of republican/nationalist Turkish
historiography, as well as the most significant (in their
historical scholarship and in their creation of master
narratives) historians of the nation-state. An analysis of
their contributions to the subject of the Byzantine legacy
works to highlight the ways in which our defensive
nationalist historiography has been imagined, as well as the
role of our geographical and cultural ancestor within that
imagination. This book analyzes the recognitions of this
legacy--as well as the lack thereof--, while seeking to
situate the different attitudes towards Byzantium within
their real and ideological contexts. While all three
historians remain prisoners of the nation-state, unable to
free themselves from the narrow boundaries of its
nationalist ideologies and agendas, the "anti-nationalist
liberation" remains a challenge for all Turkish and
non-Turkish historians working on the Ottoman Empire or
modern Turkey to respond to even today.