We are very pleased to have Hande Birkalan-Gedik (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) join us in May.
Title: Eugène Pittard, Bayan Afet, and Others: Actors and Milieus of Anthropological Knowledge and the Formation of the Turkish History Thesis in the 1930s
Abstract: My study delves into the formation of racial-anthropological knowledge by Swiss and Turkish political elite, anthropologists, and historians during the 1930s, focusing on its role in the political narratives of Turkish nation-building. Central to this research is Eugène Pittard, founder of the Musée d'ethnographie de Genève and the first Chair of Anthropology at the Université de Genève. Pittard was instrumental in challenging the scientific validity of racial categorizations, yet paradoxically, he also championed the "Turkish History Thesis," which posited that the "Turkish race" is superior and ancestral to European races. This argument aligned well with the ideological needs of Turkey's nation-building efforts at the time. My investigation is part of a DFG-funded project that scrutinizes the production and dissemination of "racial" knowledge within Turkey through various networks, involving a diverse group of European and Turkish scholars, cultural diplomats, and political figures. By analyzing extensive archival materials from Switzerland, Germany, and Turkey, I aim to unravel the complex interactions among these actors and their use of anthropological knowledge for political purposes. Ultimately, this work seeks to enrich our understanding of the history of anthropology in Turkey by offering a critical analysis of these historical dynamics that can challenge the existing disciplinary narratives.
Our commentators will be Sebastián Gil-Riaño (University of Pennsylvania) and Katja Geisenhainer (Frobenius Institute—Goeth University).
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