Patriotism as a sacred duty

In the nineteenth century, Ottoman intellectuals endeavored to construct alternative national narratives in order to safeguard the empire against the potentially disintegrative consequences of nationalism. Namık Kemal played a pivotal role in this endeavor, and his play Vatan Yahut Silistre became a foundational text in shaping Ottoman patriotic consciousness. Kemal’s sacralized conception of the homeland influenced Muslim communities, including the Kurds. Evdirehîm Rehmî Hekkarî, author of Memê Alan , regarded as the first modern Kurdish drama, similarly framed the defense of the homeland as a religious duty and employed literature as a means of collective mobilization. This study presents a comparative analysis of Vatan Yahut Silistre and Memê Alan , arguing that in both works the defense of the homeland is articulated as a religious obligation. This shared conceptualization demonstrates how religion and patriotism became deeply intertwined in the intellectual and literary discourse of the late Ottoman period.

Homeland · Patriotism · Terrorism · Anthropological Studies and Insights · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora