Sway of the Ottoman Empire on English Identity in the Long Eighteenth Century

In close readings of Robinson Crusoe, Othello, and Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, Kugler (British 18th-century literature, Colby College) shows that the notion of England as a world power was far from a given in 18th-century England; that it slowly developed over the course of the century in tandem with a developing understanding of the Ottoman empire. The first part of the book centers on texts that show English insecurities compared to the idea of an all-powerful Ottoman empire; the second part delves into notions of race and how England's familiarity with the Ottoman world led to a more nuanced understanding than works like Said's Orientalism had suggested. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Emily M.N. Kugler, B.A. Scripps Women's College and Ph.D from University of California San Diego, is Assistant Professor of British Eighteenth-Century literature at Colby College. Through an interdisciplinary approach to Eighteenth-Century Studies, she focuses on the migration of cultural ideas across geographic, socio-economic, and temporal spaces. Her work draws on cultural histories of the Transatlantic, the Ottoman Empire, Central and Western Europe, as well as East Asia.