Transnational Orientalism: Ferzan zpetek's Turkish dream in Hamam (1997)

Abstract

The cinema of directors classified as transnational has been increasingly associated with exceptional cultural configurations: The filmmakers' fluid geo-national position has been seen as a guarantee against rigid, stereotypical systems of thought and cognition. This approach has defined critical assessments of Turkish-Italian director Ferzan zpetek, and has informed the reception of his first feature film,Hamam(1997). This paper focuses onHamam's representation of Turkey, discussing the extent to which zpetek may or may not offer a new point of view, and arguing that transnational directors should be freed from the burden of re-representation. Specifically, the paper argues thatHamam's construction of Turkishness is embedded in an essentially Orientalist discourse; however, rather than the expression of a bigoted cultural position, zpetek's use of an Orientalist code relates dynamically to the experience of dislocation, serving the director's mnemonic strategy by framing and conserving a specific national image.

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