Ottoman Theater and Cross-Dressing in First World War Prison Camps

ANAMED Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, İstiklal Caddesi No. 181, Merkez Han, Beyoğlu, İstanbul

The American Research Institute presents a lecture by Professor Yücel Yanıkdağ from the University of Richmond. He tells the story of the 250,000 Ottoman prisoners of war who spent their time in captivity engaging in cultural activities, especially theater, to bring some semblance of normality to their lives. Because many theatrical stories had female characters, the male POWs broke their homosocial community’s norms to cross-dress.