Oryantalist Bir Tarihçi Olarak Hugh Kennedy ve Batı'da İslam Tarihinin Anlaşılmasına Etkisi/Hugh Kennedy as an Orientalist Historian and His Contribution to the Understanding of Islamic History in the West

Abstract

Orientalism -describing, understanding and explaining the Eastern world in Western disciplines- has been one of the concepts discussed in the modern period. Considering the changing dynamics in the modern period and the new orientalist views, the question “Should orientalism be understood entirely negatively?” comes to mind. If the subject is Islamic history, the impact of these researchers and their studies in developing an understanding of Islam in the West, including theories about history and the historian, emerges as a research matter. This article aims to investigate the impact of Hugh Kennedy as an Orientalist historian on the understanding of Islamic history in the West. In the article, Kennedy’s life and academic career are examined, his works and his influence on Islamic historiography are evaluated. Finally, his approach to Islamic history is discussed by researching the method he followed and his impact on the understanding of Islamic history in the West is assessed.

Keywords

• orientalism
• hugh kennedy
• islamic history
• historiography