Beyond allusions
The long-standing relations between France and Turkey, which began at the height of the Ottoman Empire and continued uninterrupted in the centuries that followed, are traditionally evoked as soon as current relations between the two countries and the question of Turkey's possible entry into the European Union are broached. More recently, at the numerous symposia organized to mark the "Turkish Season in France", there has of course been no shortage of reminders on this subject. But these have always been more or less substantial and precise allusions. They were generally more concerned with the present and the future than with an extensive and complex past. History has remained in the background.
However, it seems worthwhile to take stock of this history, and to devote at least one day to it this "season". The Collège de France, which was the first French institution to welcome Turkish studies, seemed the right place to fill a gap.
What was this history made of? Was it a single lecture, or did it mutate over time? How much of it is rooted in myth and how much in reality? Has everything already been said long ago, and don't today's historians have new information and insights to offer? In what directions should historical research be pursued?