Constructing Race on the Borders of Europe: Ethnography, Anthropology, and Visual Culture, 1850-1930 ed. by Marsha Morton and Barbara Larson (review)

studied in Europe, particularly under the auspices of Orientalism, which in the nineteenth century, especially in German Orientalist philological studies, continuously tried to find such an “original” and national characteristic of Turkish texts. This enterprise ultimately proved untenable (26, 39). Through the linguistic composition of (Ottoman) Turkish, we see that such one-directional assumptions about “originality” and national culture were problematic. “Incorporating elements of Arabic and Persian, the Ottoman Turkish language was inherently multilingual, thus defying the Orientalist-philological search for links between a specific Volk, geographic area, and national language” (39). Ultimately, “together with the multiethnic makeup of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Turkish language thoroughly frustrated an Orientalist-philologist investment in pure national languages, which sought to narrate a descent from origins” (43–44). Leaning on Sarah Ahmed’s conceptualization of orientation, which is understood “as an omnidirectional encounter” (4), Dickinson argues that there is “no clearly defined ‘here’ and ‘there,’ and, by analogy, no original and translation that stand in opposition” (5). Dickinson successfully demonstrates the main aim of her book, which ventured “to reframe such conversations on Turkish literature and culture around the concept of orientation as opposed to notions of interiority, authenticity, or belatedness,” as previously suggested (3). Ultimately, through her analyses, Dickinson “uncovers profound interconnections between German and (Ottoman) Turkish literary spheres that have otherwise been imagined as separate” (26). Drawing on comparative literature, translation studies, German studies, Ottoman and Turkish studies, as well as transnational studies, Dickinson’s astute study on this interdisciplinary subject matter will serve students and scholars of various fields that intersect with the study of Weltliteratur/world literature, translation, European Orientalists, (Ottoman) Turkish literature and literary traditions, and Turkish German studies. Berna Gueneli, The University of Georgia