Perception of Self and Other and Occidentalist Attitude in Ferit Edgü

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the arguments through which Ferit Edgü, a notable figure among the 1950s generation of storytellers for his engagement with Western literature and art, seeks to construct an indigenous subject while adhering to the principles of modernist art. Assuming that Occidentalism functions as the practical counterpart to the theoretical interpretation of the self-other relationship, this paper examines how Edgü conceptualizes this relationship and the particular Occidentalist stance he adopts in this context. The impact of post-World War II nationalist movements on cultural anti-imperialism debates, along with Edgü’s perspectives on the self-other issue, colonialism, and Eurocentric temporal constructs, is elucidated. Considering that figures such as Anouar Abdul-Malek and Hasan Hanafi developed theories of Occidentalism within a Marxist framework, this study identifies points of convergence between these thinkers and Ferit Edgü, who shares a similar ideological orientation. Additionally, drawing on Xiaomei Chen’s interpretation of the Menglong poetry movement, which emerged in post-1980 China as an unofficial form of Occidentalism in response to the official Occidentalism of the Mao era, the study demonstrates that the stance taken by Edgü and his contemporaries represents an early manifestation of this literary trend, shaped by comparable social dynamics and historical conditions. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.