A radical reappraisal of the relationship between ‘east’ and ‘west’ is currently underway. Critical approaches to the early modern period have too often tacitly assumed a binary opposition between a civilised Christendom and the encroaching barbarity of the ‘infidel’. Whilst the conquest of Constantinople of 1453 did indeed became a potent symbol of Ottoman imperial ambition, the complexity of the cultural negotiations in the myriad encounters – diplomatic, mercantile, religious and military – of the following years refutes the Euro-centric assumptions of traditional historiography. 1453 to 1699: Cultural Encounters between East and West seeks to bring together exciting new work in this emerging field from across the international academic community. The product of a successful inter-disciplinary conference, this volume engages with fields of history, cultural studies, art history, literary theory and anthropology, comprehensively remapping the complex contours of East-West encounters. In the light of current world events, the need to historicise and contextualise this relationship is more urgent than ever.
