Leiden University Student Repository

el-Badri, Mounir (2021)

Knowing the 'Turkish Rovers' North Africa in Dutch Texts, 1600-1800

Research master thesis | History (research) (MA)

This thesis examines Dutch knowledge and representations of early modern Barbary and its peoples, through analyses of ethnographic descriptions, newspapers and captivity narratives. On the basis of the first two bodies of texts, it argues that detailed and specific information on Barbary was available to a relatively large audience. Captivity narratives, on the other hand, reveal that this information was not necessarily picked up by the Dutch public, as the words their authors used to designate North African polities and peoples were rather abstract, and more closely resembled stereotypes projected upon Barbary.

Barbary

North Africa

Turks

Moors

Captivity

Piracy

Semiology

Author

el-Badri, Mounir

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Europe 1000-1800

Supervisors

Rosu, F.

ECTS Credits

30

Language

en