Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies

A talk by Yücel Yanıkdağ
February 9th,
5:30pm Ustler Hall Atrium

This talk examines those theaters the Ottoman prisoners of war organized in captivity. More than just a way to pass the tedium of captivity life, theater became a survival strategy. It was a therapeutic activity which allowed the prisoners to survive emotionally, psychologically, and even physically. Officers-turned-actors dressed in drag to perform women’s roles in dramas and comedies. Because the plays represented the home life and idealized traditional gender roles, female impersonation helped prisoners define, heal and reassert their masculinity in relation to women. Co-Sponsored by the Center for Humanities and the Public Sphere (Rothman Endowment), the Center for European Studies and the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research.