Uneven and combined development (UCD) and the trajectory of Turkish literary modernity: dialectics of Western forms/Eastern content
Turkish Studies, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1080/14683849.2026.2701902
- Journal Name: Turkish Studies
- Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, MLA International Bibliography, Political Science Abstract (IPSA), Social Sciences Abstracts, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Keywords: Servet-i Fünun period, Tanzimat period, Trotsky, Turkish literature, Uneven and combined development (UCD), Westernization
- Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
This article analyzes the trajectory of Ottoman-Turkish literature through the lens of the theory of uneven and combined development (UCD). Drawing on Leon Trotsky, who first developed the concept, UCD expresses a mechanism whereby interactions among societies generate divergent development trajectories. Within this framework, the article analyzes theproblematic of Westernization in Turkish fiction as the cultural expression of an uneven encounter with Western modernity. The article concludes by arguing that what started as an adoption of Western forms was later transformed into a critique of Western modernity demonstrating the potential transformative consequences of the dialectics of combination.