Decline discourse and self -Orientalization in the writings of Al-T&dotbelow;aht&dotbelow;awi, T&dotbelow;aha H&dotbelow;usayn and Ziya Gokalp: A comparative study of modernization in Egypt and Turkey

In studies of Islamic civilization, the modes of periodization adopted by previous generations of scholars are generally based on a single paradigm. That is, the modern history of the Middle East starts with Napoleon's expedition' to Egypt in 1798, and the preceding period is considered an age of decline. In other words, the long period of Arab/Islamic civilization lasting from the mid-thirteenth to the early nineteenth century is described as a period of decline and decadence ('as&dotbelow;r al-inhitat) and the period after 1798 as a period of renaissance (nahdah). Virtually every book written on the modern Middle East uses this paradigm as its organizing theme, thus reinforcing its canonical status. A similar decline discourse operates with regard to Ottoman history. A majority of the works on Ottoman history date the beginning of the Ottoman decline (or stagnation) to the second unsuccessful attempt to capture Vienna in 1683. The notion of "the Sick Man of Europe," however, has dominated the perceptions of Europeans about the Ottomans, especially after the mid-nineteenth century. It is this latter notion, the Sick Man of Europe, which parallels the notion of inhit&dotbelow;at&dotbelow; in the Arabic-speaking Middle East. Although these two discourses emerged separately from each other and in different contexts in Europe, they later converge to form one single paradigm through which history of the Middle East has been represented.;The main focus of this study is on the ways in which this discourse is being internalized by native thinkers. This study investigates the process through which intellectuals in Egypt and Turkey internalized the notion of decline, what I call a process of "self-Orientalization." I examine the perceptions of decline and the relevant ramifications in the thought of the Egyptians Rifa'ah Rafi Al-T&dotbelow;ahtawi (known as Rifa'ah Bey) (1801--1873) and T&dotbelow;aha H&dotbelow;usayn (1889--1973), and the Turkish Ziya Gokalp (1874--1924), by focusing on how and why the concept of decline in the pre-modern period of Islamic civilization was justified in their works.