Historical Novel as a Propaganda Tool: Reviving the Ottoman Past in Fiction

From the nineteenth century to the present day, a considerable number of Turkish novels have been published which either incorporate facts from Ottoman history directly into their plots, or rely on that history to form the background of the action. These novels play a significant role in the formation of Turkish national consciousness. The scope of this article is to analyse the historical novels İtiraf (Confession) and Her Yerde Kan Var (There is blood everywhere), which were written during the reign of the Justice and Development Party (akp). The article uses a sociology of literature approach to examine the two books’ depiction of the Ottoman Empire—their ‘Ottoman image’.