The representation of “Other Women” in Halide Edib Adıvar’s travel narratives

Abstract

In this study which evaluates to Mor Salkımlı Ev, Türk’ün Ateşle İmtihanı, Hindistan’a Dair by Halide Edib as travel narratives, it has been problematized that women’s issue grows into a main reference for ideological arguments and it is used as a discursive tool in defining the boundaries when it comes to contradictions established between “West” and “East”. Based on the idea that Halide Edib’s perception of the self/other - center / circle shaped by the East / West vision is the key matter that outlines the representations of women, the center and its boundaries where Halide Edip positioned herself has been discussed. As to representations of women used in defining the boundaries, they have been divided into two categories namely familiarization and alienation. This distinction is made based on the notion that the discourse of othering is not only recognised by the alienation of the other, but the texts produced by familiarizing the other can also contribute to the discourse. Accordingly, in this study which focuses on the representation of the “other woman” in Halide Edib's travel narratives, the English versions of the narratives has been also discussed within this framework. The differences between the Turkish and English versions of the narratives and their reasons has been elaborated. In this thesis, in focus of Arab women in Mor Salkımlı Ev, Anatolian women in Türk’ün Ateşle İmtihanı and Indian women in Hindistan’a Dair, it has been claimed that women are marginalized and instrumentalized as metaphors for other issues whether it be “familiarization” or “alienation”.