Eastern Male Image in Contemporary Oriental Media: the Novel and Movie of the Lustful Turk

Abstract

When the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century was at the peak of its power, British and French merchants who came to Istanbul were writing so-called memories of harems to their homeland, and these letters composed the image of Eastern male in Orientalism and details of Muslim male image, which was one of the most important prototypes. The details which were written by non-Muslims who had no chance to even come near to Sultan's private life, recounted a period of literature to politics. Moreover, Muslim males who were called "not lustful Turk" in the past also have to face some kind of vexatious accusations today because of this created identity. In the same year, the producers proposed that The Lustful Turk movie had a big budget and an ambitious project; they were trying to affect potential audience. In this study, The Lustful Turk's novel segments and the movie are analyzed in detail to understand toplevel racist accusations to Eastern male image, especially the Turkish one. Also, contemporary media approaches will be evaluated from Edward Said's point of view. © 2021, IGI Global.