Tales from the Expat Harem

Tales of the Expat Harem offers 29 stories about American women in Turkey
Bazaars, exquisite carpet shops reminiscent of exotic folklore, lamb roasting in tiny restaurant windows, the omnipresence of mosques dimmed by the setting sun, ushering in the long Arabian night familiar to every child's imagination - are you burning for a chance to travel?

Have you indulged in fantasies about prolonged flights from your life, shedding your skin and being reborn in the East?

The 2005 book "Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey" by Jennifer E. Gökmen and Anastasia M. Ashman offers 29 stories of American women who, for very different reasons, rediscover themselves in the country of Turkey.

A country with a remarkably rich Middle Eastern history and a modern Western flair, Turkey is a harbor for many Westerners traveling or settling for pleasure or business.

The authors of "Tales from the Expat Harem" have offered the Eastern Echo their time to share their experiences and discuss their book.



Eastern Echo: Would you tell us a little about "Tales from the Expat Harem?"

Anatasia Ashman: Ours is a collection of expatriate adventures in Turkey. These women (like us) show how Turkish culture has affected their lives in real-life stories that span the entire country and the last four decades.

Jennifer Gokmen: Our contributors are not tourists. This is expatriate literature, meaning that all the writers have established lives there and have lived at least one year in Turkey - some even for 30 years.

Some of the women came for work, like the archaeologist at Troy and the clothing designer in Selcuk. Others came for a belief, like the Peace Corps volunteer in Erzurum and the Christian missionary in Istanbul... some have yet to figure out what drew them here!

The title "Expat Harem" is purposefully anachronistic. We realize the prevalent and erroneous Western stereotypes about Asia Minor and the entire Muslim world. Our title ironically mirrors that inaccuracy, while also recognizing the fact that the harem was the female base of power in the days of the sultans.

We feel our writers are akin to foreign brides of the Ottoman Seraglio, wedded to the culture of the land, yet forever alien.

Ashman: The use of harem in the title also makes sense on a deeper level. We believe that if a harem was once a confined community of women, then this newly coined community of expatriate women in modern Turkey follows its tradition.

Foreign women can lead confined lives in Turkey, especially when they have just arrived, have not yet learned the language, and when they still haven't overcome their own ethnocentricity, for example.

Gokmen: On the other hand, we also see our "Expat Harem" as a network of peers, and a source of foreign female wisdom about the country and the culture.

Eastern Echo: What success has the book enjoyed, both in the U.S. and in Turkey?

Gokmen: The book was released in Turkey in September 2005 in both Turkish and English by Turkey's largest publisher. The English edition went to the bestseller list and has remained there for over 7 months now.

"Expat Harem" was a No. 1 bestseller in Turkey in January. Even Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul called after reading the book to say how much he liked it and thought it was important for the country. That's like having Condoleeza Rice calling you up at home to say "good job!"

Ashman: In Turkey, consulates and embassies have begun giving the book to their incoming personnel as an orientation to the culture.

Turks who live in America tell us that they're using "Expat Harem" to teach their American-born children about their home culture, which is the best validation we can receive. Many say the book will be an instant classic in terms of explaining Turkish culture through foreigners' eyes.

Gokmen: In America, "Expat Harem" went into a second printing in April 2006, only one month after its release, so that hopefully bodes well for the book's success here.

May 25th we will complete a 6-week long American book tour during which we have traveled 9,000 miles across 26 states, which has put us in touch with readers across the country. They like what they have read, so soon the word will start to spread.

We've blogged the whole trip to record the people we've met and each of the events. [http://expat-harem.blogspot.com].

Eastern Echo: What makes Turkey different from other neighboring Middle Eastern countries?

Gokmen: Turkey differs from its Middle Eastern neighbors primarily in that its foundation was based on the secular idea of separation of mosque and state as well as an active strategy of Westernization.

Turkey's republic was established as a secular nation in 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk abolished the Ottoman sultanate and caliphate and introduced democratic rule, modeling Turkey's civil code after Switzerland's laws.

Along with outlawing the wearing of the fez for men and the veil for women, the alphabet was changed to Latin script rather than Arabic, and by 1934 women were given the right to vote and hold office. From the earliest years of Turkey's parliament, there were elected female representatives.

Ashman: Americans may not realize that women are legally forbidden to wear headscarves if they work for the Turkish government or for government-sponsored entities like schools and universities.

Turkey has a fierce tradition of secularism such that president Sezer will not attend any state function if Prime Minister Erdogan's headscarved wife is present, nor will the heads of the military. This is how contentious the headscarf issue is between Turkish secularists and religious conservatives.

Eastern Echo: The Middle East and Islam are topics with a great deal of news coverage and evoke a certain degree of discomfort for many Americans. How well is the average American informed about the culture and attitudes of the Muslim world?

Gokmen: It's a pity that these days news coverage in general tends to favor stories of scandal, tragedy, and atrocity... It is much more difficult to find positive human interest stories of any kind from any country.

You know, our international press correspondent friends in Istanbul can't sell a good story about Turkey to their editors because Turkey's negative image is so deeply ingrained.

If they submit a positive story, their editors assume the correspondents have "gone native" and often boot them off to their next country assignment.

Ashman: We hope this book will show that Turkey and its people have another side, one of innate gentility and generosity. Educated women from many different nations, time periods, and characters show that the country has a lot to offer.

Gokmen: I would encourage Americans to keep in mind the difference between the people of any nation and their policymakers. Vilifying entire cultures based on what leaders do is akin to accusing every German of the Holocaust or accusing every American of the crimes committed in the name of US foreign policy.

I'm quite thankful that Turks don't blame me for Bush's actions just because I'm American. In 12 years no one in Turkey has ever acted negatively toward me because of my nationality

Eastern Echo: The first concern for anyone considering travel is safety. To what degree does Turkey offer security for foreigners?

Gokmen: I'm not sure what specific security options are on offer for foreigners.

I can say that I have lived in Turkey for the past 12 years and have traveled the country extensively by myself, with other foreign females, and in mixed groups and I've never felt I was ever in any kind of danger or was taking any risk. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Turkish culture tends to be much more hospitable than we're used to. It has been my experience that total strangers will go out of their way to make sure I'm taken care of, comfortable, and even entertained. And most expats and tourists we know have had similar experiences.

I've even had a random taxi driver in Istanbul escort me inside the telecom headquarters to help me sort out my incorrect phone bill when my Turkish skills were not quite enough! That kind of good Samaritan behavior is everywhere in Turkey.

Ashmen: Security is provided by the nature of the society. Armed escorts are hardly necessary when the instinct and upbringing of Turks makes them concerned for the wellbeing of the people around them, including foreigners and visitors.

Eastern Echo: Can you offer any advice for individuals looking to travel or live abroad, Turkey and otherwise?

Gokmen: Seek out context wherever you go. The sooner you can identify context, the more you will enjoy your surroundings. How people behave and react to you is based on their cultural background, not yours, so words and actions may have very different meanings than what you might assume.

And once you can correctly interpret or intuit what's going on around you, the more you can participate.

Ashman: For instance, the limp finger handshake of Malaysia followed by the quick retraction of the arm is not a sign of rejection as I had first assumed when I arrived there.

When this first happened to me, I thought the person was signaling her displeasure in meeting me. What I didn't realize was that she drew her hand back in order to touch it to her heart, in a delicate gesture of honoring the person being greeted.

I now wonder what she must have thought of my bone-squeezing American handshake. If I had learned about greetings before moving there, it would have made my first impressions of the country much different.

Eastern Echo: What advice can you offer young writers who want to pursue the life of an author or editor?

Gokmen: Aside from honing your craft and writing as much and as often as possible, prepare yourself for the marketing of your product.

The reality is that the time and resources publishers can devote to a title is often limited (especially for first time authors), so it behooves writers to do what they can to support the publishers' efforts. There are some excellent books on the market offering ideas and marketing strategies.

Ashman: In fact, developing a detailed marketing plan helped us to sell the "Expat Harem" manuscript by identifying our many different types of audiences and how we could target them. We detailed the steps we would take to help further the success of the project.

For our future projects, we certainly plan to submit a marketing plan to publishers along with the manuscript.


By Bryan Smith
JUNE 6, 2006