Narrative Traditions in International Politics

"In her valuable and theoretically rich study, Vuorelma insightfully explores Western narrative representations of Turkey, tracing certain narrative traditions from the early years of the Turkish Republic to the present. This is an important contribution to IR scholarship, particularly given the recent 'narrative turn' in the field."

-Catherine MacMillan, Yeditepe University, Turkey

This book introduces the concept of narrative tradition to study representation in international politics. Focusing specifically on the case of Turkey, the book shows how narrative traditions are constructed, maintained, and passed on by a loose epistemic community that involves practitioners and experts including scholars, journalists, diplomats, and political representatives. Employing an interpretative approach, the book distinguishes between four narrative traditions in the study of Turkey: Turkey as a state that is (1) getting lost, (2) standing at a decisive crossroad, (3) led by strongmen, and (4) struggling with a creeping Islamisation.These narrative traditions carry enduring beliefs that not only describe, moralise, judge, and stigmatise Turkey, but also contribute to the idea of the West. The book focuses on knowledge that is produced from a Western perspective, showing that Turkey provides a channel through which the Western self can be debated, challenged, celebrated, and judged.

Johanna Vuorelma is a researcher at the Centre for European Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland. She holds a PhD from the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK. Her current research project (2021-2024), funded by the Kone Foundation, examines irony in international politics.