Modernity as an Ottoman Fetish: Representations of Ottoman Masculinity in Kesik Bıyık

Abstract

Because masculinity was a central part of Ottoman culture and politics, changes in these domains had a fundamental impact on discussions about masculinity. At the turn of the twentiethcentury, the Ottoman Empire’s dominant role in world politicsbegan to weaken due to the increasing influence of modernity. This generated socio-political anxieties. Ömer Seyfettin’s shortstory, Kesik Bıyık (Trimmed Moustache), is a good example to use when discussing the influence of modernity in relation to the issue of masculinity. The transformation of a moustache into a fetishobject can be read as an allegory of the Empire’s socio-political anxieties caused by the process of modernisation. This paper discusses the way in which Kesik Bıyık allegorically represents the Ottoman Empire’s socio-political anxieties as castration anxiety, and how modernity becomes a fetish throughout the narrative.

Key words: castration anxiety, modernity, fetishism, Ottoman-Turkish literature, Ömer Seyfettin