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Turkish and Japanese modernisation: A comparison
in terms of the concept of ‘civilizing process’
This paper analyses the eclectic cultural patterns which combined Western and
indigenous culture in the everyday lives of the Meici Japanese and the Ottoman
Turkish elites during the nineteenth century. The uses of dress, home interiors,
and etiquette by elites are discussed in the comparative framework of Norbert
Elias’ “civilizing process” that engendered the modern individual in the West,
The paper argues that the individual in both countries underwent a new “civilizing
process” due to the introduction of Western culture to an existent milieu of
civilization. The introduction engendered the politically charged symbolism of
bi-cultural forms. In the process of constructing a “modern persona”, the individual
in both societies faced the “double” tension stemming from the self-perception
of the rational in Western and traditional culture representing “civilized
behavior” in public spheres. Unlike the standard arguments that see tradition
as the emotive haven of security from the tension of modernity, the individual
in Japan and Turkey found emotive refuge in alternative eclectic cultural environments
with less defined cultural boundaries in private interior spheres.