This study investigates to what extent Turkish formal complaint letters followed the ‘Problem-Solution Pattern’, and on how the writers expressed their wishes when they explained their problem and asked the authorities to amend a mistake. The study is based on a corpus of 134 Turkish complaint letters. It draws upon Flowerdew’s approach to the problem-solution pattern and the role of clause relations in this text pattern. Results showed that age-old Turkish rhetorical norms led writers’ choice of lexico-grammatical patterns in reflecting (...) politeness in order to maintain their own and the recipients’ faces. The speech acts in the ‘Problem and Solution’ parts below were hedged and impersonalized. The Turkish traditional rhetorical formula that was used in the request does not explicitly ask the reader to do something; in this way, the writers attempt to protect both their own face and that of the reader. (shrink)

The word "civilisation", coined by French intellectuals in the middle of the 18th century, was soon adopted by other European societies. This name meant that they were different and superior to all other societies. Ottoman bureaucrats and writers translated the word "civilisation" into Turkish as "medeniyet". However, "medeniyet", one of the important concepts of the Islamic tradition, was far from expressing the mentality and lifestyle meant by civilisation. The concept of "civilisation" was specific to Europe under the existing conditions and (...) expressed the understanding that Europe was unique and superior. At the same time, it represented an understanding that legitimized the invasion and exploitation of non-European countries by some European states, particularly Britain and France. In order to reduce the reactions of the societies that were the victims of their occupation and exploitation and to idealize being European, Europeans claimed that there were other "civilisations" in history. The concept of "Islamic civilisation" was born under these circumstances. Şemseddin Sami, who wrote the first book entitled "Islamic civilisation" in 1879, defended the thesis that Muslims had a "civilisation" in history and that this "civilisation" had contributed to the formation of the European one. However, after a while, he significantly changed his view and argued that "Islamic civilisation" was completely lost in history and that "European civilisation" was the only and the most superior "civilisation" in the present world. This study aims to examine the conceptualization process of the word "civilisation" and especially Şemseddin Sami's comparison of "civilisations" in the context of this process. The subject will be examined with reference to the written texts of the period and current studies on "civilisation". (shrink)