Uncovering the Ignored: Corporeality, Sexuality, and Gender in Children's Magazines in the Ottoman Empire, 1869 - 1918

Abstract

My dissertation delves into the conceptualization and discussions surrounding corporeality, sexuality, and gender within children's magazines published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Ottoman Empire. Employing these thematic lenses, the study scrutinizes the reproduction of diverse discourses, images, and practices related to corporeality, sexuality, and gender. Grounded in a methodological framework of discourse analysis, it sheds light on the multifaceted discussions encompassing self-care, hygiene, physical training, intimacy, sociability, family dynamics, and societal norms and roles. To offer a critical examination of children's magazines, my dissertation adopts Foucauldian concepts such as power, care of the self, and friendship, along with ideas of plasticity and socialization. Within this methodological and theoretical framework, the research explores how these publications contribute to shaping micropower relations, influencing the malleability of children's bodies, redefining intimate relationships and homosocial bonds, establishing heteronormativity, and reinforcing binary gender norms and roles. Furthermore, the dissertation elucidates the interconnectedness of children's magazines with comparable discourses, images, and practices stemming from medical, scientific, literary, and legal realms. It weaves together discussions on corporeality, sexuality, and gender with prevailing notions of modernization, religion, and nationalism. The study also investigates the involvement of various social actors, including parents, teachers, and doctors, in the socialization process. Overall, the dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of how children's magazines serve as dynamic agents in the construction of societal norms and the dissemination of influential discourses surrounding the intricate interplay of corporeality, sexuality, and gender.