ABSTRACT
THE traditional interpreters of Turkey to Western readers are the historians and orientalists who, together with occasional journalists, diplomats, and travellers, have built our images of the Ottoman Turks and of Republican Turkey. For an understanding of present-day Turkey, therefore, the traditional sources are central, but they no longer stand alone or even unchallenged. Today, scholars are bringing the perspectives and tools of economics, sociology, anthropology, politics, cultural geography, and other social disciplines to the study of Turkey. Their findings are broadening and deepening knowledge concerning Turkey's history and her present position. These contributions are an early indication of a forthcoming expansion of sources and methods of study which is already making new demands on both the consumers and producers of knowledge concerning contemporary Turkey.
