Replacing the Image of the Ottoman Turk: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Turquerie as Resistance

Abstract

This dissertation examines the cultural and diplomatic clashes that happened in the 17th century between the Ottoman Empire and France beginning with an Ottoman envoy’s visit to Louis XIV’s Court in France in 1669. This visit has generally been given the labels “failed” and “scandalous” by the western scope as a result of consequent conflicts that occurred between these states’ representatives. In every moment that these representatives encountered each other, their performances reveal fascination and confusion in trying to make sense of one another. This study provides a close examination of these performative interactions which reveal that this event was not necessarily a failure, but rather a commencement of spectacular social reactions. Throughout the visit of Ambassador Müteferrika Süleyman Ağa, French officials were skeptical about the envoys’ mission and did not know how to treat them, which resulted in novel theatrical interactions such as the French foreign minister impersonating the Ottoman Grand Vizier. This haphazard attempt to gain the upper hand in diplomacy, I argue, led to the adoption of and permission to use Ottoman identifiers which developed into the practice of turquerie. Throughout the century turquerie became a tool that was used to declare either political power for its practitioner or resistance to authoritarian power. Thus, the visit, even years after it occurred, has impacted French identity and its “high” culture. This study analyzes the performativity of these events, their well-known products such as Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and turquerie, how they shaped these states’ identities and politics, and the ways in which they still affect the scholarly approach to this period. Rather than relying solely on French sources, I re-examine this encounter by including Ottoman sources of diplomatic and cultural customs. This methodological approach reveals the French political agenda behind this interaction and why this encounter, which has historically been referred to as a diplomatic failure, may have been purposely orchestrated. I argue that giving an equal voice to the point of view of the Ottoman Empire changes our conception of this, and similar, diplomatic and artistic performances.