Papers by Hazel Elif Guler
Proceedings of the 5th International Arts & Humanities Conference, Copenhagen, 2019
Many reputable universities across the world aim to educate their students as critically thinking... more Many reputable universities across the world aim to educate their students as critically thinking and civic-minded individuals who have a commitment to advance their communities. Taking this objective a step further necessitates helping students develop as global citizens who are equipped with rhetorical tools from different cultures and nations—as rhetoric (the ancient art of speaking and writing) is at the heart of civic and professional actions. To this end, my research aims to recover non-Western approaches to rhetoric, by focusing on the rhetorical perspectives and practices of my native Turks—a group whose world presence spans centuries since their ancient origins in central Asia, and to explore their rhetorical and pedagogical implications for contemporary students and citizens. This presentation will focus on a thematic analysis of the first major example of Turkish-Islamic literature (11th century), Yusuf Has Hacib’s Kutadgu Bilig (roughly translated as Wisdom That Brings H...
The Routledge Handbook of Comparative World Rhetorics, 2020
This chapter explores the implications of two notions, kut and töre (rooted in the earliest avail... more This chapter explores the implications of two notions, kut and töre (rooted in the earliest available Turkish texts), as the two pillars of the Turkish rhetorical tradition. The notions first appear in the eighth-century Orkhon inscriptions and figure strongly in Yusuf Has Hacib's eleventh-century work, Kutadgu Bilig. Both the Orkhon inscriptions and Kutadgu Bilig , directly or indirectly, imply that kut is attained by following töre in all practices-including those that are rhetorical in nature. Rather than defining rhetoric as the ability to recognize the available means of persuasion or the moral person speaking (e.g., the views that we observe in the works of Aristotle or Quintilian, respectively), Turkish texts such as the Orkhon inscriptions and Kutadgu Bilig treat rhetoric or the word (söz) as a means for attaining kut. The texts suggest that attaining kut requires subjecting the "tongue" (dil) to a certain rhetorical training (e.g., one has to study language so she or he can properly communicate with and utilize authority and power); this process is what ensures effective communication as well as one's morality or proper following of töre. The rhetorical insights from these texts-illustrated in the translations of their various lines/verses interspersed with the discussion in this chapter-can provide scholars with various points for critical discussion on rhetorical agency and its moral boundaries, potentially offering new rhetorical models for a civic use of language.
Advances in the History of Rhetoric, 2019
This study contributes to the conversations on a more globalized and inclusive rhetorical praxis ... more This study contributes to the conversations on a more globalized and inclusive rhetorical praxis by focusing on how rhetoric was produced and understood by Turks – a group whose history spans centuries since their ancient origins in central Asia. We examine the ways in which Turkic/Turkish rhetoric was practiced and conceptualized in two seminal texts from the pre-Islamic and republican periods of the Turkish rhetorical tradition: the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century) and Atatürk’s Nutuk (1927). The intertextuality of these texts allows us to explore their relationships across time and space as well as mediate rhetorical styles and performances in their discourse.
Studies in Popular Culture, 2018
This article focuses on contemporary popular culture representations of ancient Turkish women. Th... more This article focuses on contemporary popular culture representations of ancient Turkish women. Through William R. Brown’s Rhetoric of Social Intervention (RSI) model, Dr. Guler examines the rhetorical patterns underlying a popular Turkish television show’s attempt to inspire contemporary Turkey with a historical ideal of Turkish society which promoted gender equality and entrusted women with a prominent role in social affairs. The RSI model focuses on the process by which human beings symbolically constitute reality and ideology. Contrary to the typical media representations of historical Turkish women as inferior matrons of the harem (a central trope of centuries-old Orientalist fantasies), the show Resurrection symbolically constructs women as advisors, leaders, peers of men, and warriors. These portrayals are based on the actual Turkish history, adding further value and credibility to this show’s attention intervention.
According to historical records, Turkish women knew how to hunt for sustenance and were trained in archery and using a sword, ready to fight their way through armed conflicts and ward off outside threats. The eighth-century Orkhon Inscriptions (the earliest-known Turkish texts) also emphasized the leadership role assigned to women: the male ruler (Hakan) and his wife (Hatun) were equal partners in protecting and governing the Turkic nation (East Side: 10 and 21). The Hatun had administrative privileges and could precede meetings on behalf of the Hakan. By foregrounding the strong agency, skills, and characteristics of womanhood that allude to this history, Resurrection is enacting an attention intervention to recover the conception of womanhood from ancient Turkish tribes and restore women’s equal place in Turkish society—granting contemporary Turkish women a historical and a traditional reference point which can help further justify their current efforts for equal treatment.
Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing, and Service Learning, 2017
This essay focuses on the pedagogical implications of teaching Atatürk's " Address to the Youth "... more This essay focuses on the pedagogical implications of teaching Atatürk's " Address to the Youth " for a more inclusive and diverse understanding of global rhetorics in the U.S. writing classroom. We propose that the public work of rhetorical instruction includes helping students develop as global citizen leaders by allowing them to explore and critically become aware of various national cultures and rhetorical traditions across the world. Integrating non-Western public rhetorics into the U.S. writing classroom challenges students in this context to write outside of the classical conventions of rhetoric and affords students to mobilize a new discourse for civic action.
This book addresses the questions and decisions that administrators and instructors most need to ... more This book addresses the questions and decisions that administrators and instructors most need to consider when developing online writing programs and courses. The editors hope that the guidance provided in this collection will encourage readers to join a conversation about designing OWI practices, contributing to the scholarship about OWI, and reshaping OWI theory.
Uploads
Papers by Hazel Elif Guler
According to historical records, Turkish women knew how to hunt for sustenance and were trained in archery and using a sword, ready to fight their way through armed conflicts and ward off outside threats. The eighth-century Orkhon Inscriptions (the earliest-known Turkish texts) also emphasized the leadership role assigned to women: the male ruler (Hakan) and his wife (Hatun) were equal partners in protecting and governing the Turkic nation (East Side: 10 and 21). The Hatun had administrative privileges and could precede meetings on behalf of the Hakan. By foregrounding the strong agency, skills, and characteristics of womanhood that allude to this history, Resurrection is enacting an attention intervention to recover the conception of womanhood from ancient Turkish tribes and restore women’s equal place in Turkish society—granting contemporary Turkish women a historical and a traditional reference point which can help further justify their current efforts for equal treatment.
According to historical records, Turkish women knew how to hunt for sustenance and were trained in archery and using a sword, ready to fight their way through armed conflicts and ward off outside threats. The eighth-century Orkhon Inscriptions (the earliest-known Turkish texts) also emphasized the leadership role assigned to women: the male ruler (Hakan) and his wife (Hatun) were equal partners in protecting and governing the Turkic nation (East Side: 10 and 21). The Hatun had administrative privileges and could precede meetings on behalf of the Hakan. By foregrounding the strong agency, skills, and characteristics of womanhood that allude to this history, Resurrection is enacting an attention intervention to recover the conception of womanhood from ancient Turkish tribes and restore women’s equal place in Turkish society—granting contemporary Turkish women a historical and a traditional reference point which can help further justify their current efforts for equal treatment.