''Turkism, Islamism and Modernism'' (Turkish: ''Türkleşmek, İslamlaşmak, Muasırlaşmak'') is a book written by

Ziya Gökalp Mehmet Ziya Gökalp (born Mehmed Ziya, 23 March 1876 – 25 October 1924) was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and politician. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution that reinstated constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire, he adopted the pen ...

published in 1918 after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

. The book reflects his perspectives on various subjects and the political landscape of the Ottoman Empire during the writing process of the book, along with his personal political ideologies involving with the issues presented in the book. The book is a compilation of various essays which were written under the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

"''Türkleşmek, İslâmlaşmak, Muâsırlaşmak''" by Ziya Gökalp around 1913–1914, for literary magazines namely

Türk Yurdu ''Türk Yurdu'' is a monthly Turkish magazine that was first published on the 30 November 1911. It was an important magazine propagating Pan-Turkism. It was founded by Yusuf Akçura, Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Ali bey Huseynzade, Ali Hüseynzade. Ziya Gö ...

(Turkish Land) and

İslam Mecmuası ''İslam Mecmuası'' () was a biweekly political magazine which was published in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, between 1914 and 1918. It is known as being one of the early publications which attempted to provide a synthesis of the nationalism a ...

(Magazine of Islam), as a serialized work that had been released in different issues. Book is composed of eleven chapters and every chapter contains multiple essays which have episodes where the author expresses personal political views.

History

The book has been first compiled and published in Evkaf-ı İslamiye Matbaası in 1918. Written in fairly plain

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, the main point of the book was, just like other books of Ziya Gökalp, to inform the Turkish public as part of the National Literature movement. On 24 July 1923, Turkish nation has officially declared independence, in 1923 he was appointed as a "Maarif Vekâleti Telif ve Tercüme" (Ministry of Education Copyright and Translation) minister and consequently died on 25 October 1924 as he was suffering from a certain illness. In 1930s, as

Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...

was getting popular, the book had a stagnating popularity as the proposal of Turkish–Islamic synthesis had no audience in the general population however book regained popularity in course of 1940s to 1970s. Book has been republished by

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

in modern

Turkish alphabet The Turkish alphabet () is a Latin-script alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, seven of which ( Ç, Ğ, I, İ, Ö, Ş and Ü) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements o ...

, transliterated from

Ottoman Turkish alphabet The Ottoman Turkish alphabet () is a version of the Perso-Arabic script used to write Ottoman Turkish for over 600 years until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet. Though Ottoman Turkish was primarily writt ...

by İbrahim Kutluk, in 1976. The Ötüken Neşriyat again republished the book in 2014 more faithful to the original Ottoman alphabet tone but again in modern Turkish alphabet, therefore retaining the publishing and popularity of the book.

Chapters

# ''Üç Cereyan'' (Three Movements) # ''Lisan'' (Language) # ''An'ane ve Kaid'' (Narratives and Belief) # ''Hars Zümresi, Medeniyet Zümresi'' (Party of Culture and Party of Civilisation) # ''Türklüğün Başına Gelenler'' (What Happened to Turkishness) # ''Terbiye'' (Discipline) # ''Mefkure'' (Ideal) # ''Türk Milleti ve Turan'' ( Turkish Nation and

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

) # ''Millet ve Vatan'' (Nation and Land) # ''Milliyet Mefkuresi'' (Ideal of Nation) # ''Milliyet ve İslâmiye'' (Nationality and Islam)

Ideological views

The book, as it reflects Ziya Gökalp's ideologies, both against

Liberal individualism Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by countr ...

and

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

but supports the

Solidarism Solidarism or solidarist can refer to: * The term " solidarism" is applied to the sociopolitical thought advanced by Léon Bourgeois based on ideas by the sociologist Émile Durkheim which is loosely applied to a leading social philosophy operati ...

as a solution for the Turkish nation. This proposal resembles

Corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...

and it can be said that

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

and a desire to reconcile

Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...

and

Turkism Pan-Turkism () or Turkism () is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), South Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) ...

has influenced the theme of book. In chapter ''An'ane ve Kaid'' (Narratives and Belief) he openly criticizes both

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and

radicals Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

as in one party thinks the rules and beliefs are the ultimate truth while the latter is likened to "the English who are without rules" therefore suggesting a moderation between parties. In contrast in ''Türk Milleti ve Turan'' (Turkish people and Turan) he takes a more conservative stance, pointing out the "enemies of Turan" are

Socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Defeatism Defeatism is the acceptance of defeat without struggle, often with negative connotations. It can be linked to pessimism in psychology, and may sometimes be used synonymously with fatalism or determinism. In politics, defeatism is used for one's p ...

and

School A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s and complains how "

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...

Francization Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), also known as Frenchification, is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by more an ...

and

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

" are dividing the Turkish nation, openly criticizing westernization and suggesting that "our land is neither Turkiye nor

Turkistan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

, our land is eternal and bigger: Turan" The book lays down the constitution of Gökalp's idea of Turkishness, which is the fact that he asserted that nation is a structure which is composed by belief and ideals, will be repeated in another work ''The Principles of Turkism'' hence he formed a unique idea of Turkism and Turkish nationalism. For the same reason, he is called "father of Turkish nationalism" by his followers. Melson, Robert. ''Revolution and Genocide''. 1996, page 164.

References

{{Reflist 1918 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about Turkey Books about Islamism Islamic modernism