Jimmy Ruck Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources for an Exploration

1.THE ADVENTURES OF T.S. AN English Merchant, Taken Prisoner by the TURKS of ARGIERS, And carried into the Inland Countries OF AFRICA: With a Description of the Kingdom of ARGIERS, of all the TOWNS and PLACES of Note thereabouts.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/TS_Africa/

The author, only known by his initials, “T.S.” wrote his story in 1670 after having left England in 1648. Although, it appears that his background and occupation are not explicitly stated, much can be inferred from his writings. The author states that his name will be useless to the “judicious” reader and so he decides to withhold his name. He mentions that he was first destined to be a scholar but that the “extraordinary rigour” frightened him from his studies. His aversion for learning meant that he sought out adventures instead. T.S. bounced around for several years before latching onto an apprenticeship with a prominent trader in London. It appears that he eventually intended to earn his fortune as a traveler. Eventually, he took off for North Africa. Quick analysis suggests that he went as a solo traveler without the backing of any powerful trade association. Consequently, though he was an Englishman, T.S. was not treated with any unique gestures or afforded dignity.

Towards the beginning of his account, T.S makes reference to the fact that he eventually served as a slave for various Ottoman masters. As T.S. navigates through a variety of jobs and occupations, he is simultaneously able to see large swaths of the Ottoman Empire (but especially North Africa). Apparently, he becomes so valuable that he is able to earn his freedom. Much more research and analysis must be done on this front to examine his claims about his perceived value to his Ottoman masters. T.S. claims that he is writing his accounts not to “make advantage of them”, but it remains to be seen if he is trying to win fame or garner wealth from his tales in a foreign land.

One main avenue to go down is the author’s Protestant faith. How does this affect his treatment? Is he forced to convert to Islam? Does “Providence” keep him safe and help him win his freedom? Under what light does the Christian T.S. view the Muslim Ottomans? I hope to understand modern early English or Protestant views of the Muslims. Though this is several centuries after the Crusades, are Muslims seen as infidels?

Secondary Sources

1.Gerald MacLean, The Rise of Oriental Travel: English Visitorsto the Ottoman Empire, 1580–1720. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

In The Rise of Oriental Travel, Professor Gerald MacLean, an English Professor at Wayne State University and Research Fellow at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, utilizes four travel narratives written between 1599 and 1652 to help explain English attitudes towards the Ottoman Empire. What's helpful is that MacLean juxtaposes these narratives with other secondary sources about records of the Middle East and North Africa to help check their experiences. I hope to use this source to help evaluate the veracity of some of my sources including T.S. which MacLean examines.


2.Richmond Barbour, Before Orientalism: London's Theater of the East 1576–1626. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

The author is an associate professor of English at Oregon State University who looks into the question of Orientalism. He uses the early modern English encounters with the Ottoman and Mogul Empires to answer his questions about how these "Orientalists" were perceived. Barbour notes early on that "attitudes about the East . . . were typically shaped at home before being tested abroad." Barbour emphasizes that English overseas expeditions failed as often as they succeeded due to their interactions with sophisticated and powerful cultures.
So rather than examine English understandings of the Orient from a position of strength, Barbour tries to seek out an English perspective of the Orient vis a vis a position of equality or even inferiority. He also should be an unique source because Barbour is interested in the arts as an expression of thought. He examines English theater to help him understand their views on foreigners.

3.Daniel Carey, ed. Asian Travel in the Renaissance. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

This book is a collection of essays on European interactions with Asia. For example, there are essays about the Portuguese interactions with the Chinese. In chapter eight, "Riches, Power, Trade and Religion: The Far East and the English Imagination, 1600–1720," Robert Markley examines how the English perceived the "Far East". I need to do a more thorough examination of this source, but I believe it does not necessarily focus on the Ottoman Empire. However, Markley seeks to understand general English perceptions and attitudes towards the East and so I think this source will be helpful in that manner. In fact, it seems to be that his argument centers around the fact that there was "an English anxiety of marginalization in a world dominated by Eastern economic and military power". The myriad cultures and regions seemed to stress the English out due to all the competition. This essay should help me rethink the norm that the English operated from a position of power.