Of Trojans and Turks: The Politics of Retelling a Myth
Speaker
In this year's BATAS John Martin Annual Lecture, Prof Naoíse Mac Sweeney explores why the story of Troy has never just been a story, but always also about the politics of civilisation, and where the Turks sit within that history.
Last summer's biggest Hollywood blockbuster attracted not only box office success, but also a vituperative Culture War controversy and a clutch of political ruminations. Like all the adaptations of the Trojan War story that have preceded it, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is not simply entertainment. This tale is so ubiquitous, so foundational to western culture, that no retelling can be politically neutral. Each has said something about war and conquest, about the treatment of foreigners, and about civilisation, whether western or otherwise. In this lecture, Prof Mac Sweeney focuses on the last of these points, examining the politics of how the Trojan War has been retold over history, and considering the place of Anatolia, Turks, and Türkiye within this. Her tale will take in Ottoman diplomacy, the rhetoric surrounding independence, and the current position of Türkiye in a shifting international order, ending with Nolan's Trojans and this most recent reimagining of the fall of Troy.
Speaker:
Naoíse Mac Sweeney is an archaeologist, historian, writer, and academic. She is currently Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna and previously held posts at Cambridge and Leicester. Her research focuses on the construction of identity and cultural interaction, specifically in relation to the Iron Age to Classical periods in the ancient Greek world and Anatolia. Her works also deal with wider engagement with antiquity, and the politics of reception and heritage. Until recently she was the lead academic editor for the journal Anatolian Studies. Her monographs include Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Troy: Myth, City, Icon (Bloomsbury, 2018), and The West: A New History of an Old Idea (Penguin, 2024).
Chair:
Yaprak Gürsoy, Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
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More about this event
Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Türkiye and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Türkiye through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.
The British Association for Turkish Area Studies (@BATAStweets) aims to bring together and provide a forum for people interested in and keen to know more about Turkish life, society, history, language and culture. It is the only organisation in the United Kingdom dedicated to such an aim which it seeks to achieve by means of lectures, symposia, the sponsorship of publications and the distribution free to members of a substantial biannual journal, the Turkish Area Studies Review.
Hashtag for this event: #LSETürkiye
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*Photo Credit: Canva (Troy Ancient City in Türkiye)
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