Reality of the Magic of the East”: Hemingway on the Greco-Turkish War and the Refugee Procession in Eastern Thrace

Ernest Hemingway came to Turkey as a war correspondent to cover the Greco-Turkish War in 1922 for the newspaper «Toronto Star Daily». In two months, he visited Istanbul, Mudanya, and Eastern Thrace. The way he depicted the region, atmosphere of war, refugees in Thrace, and ordinary people in extraordinary times has sparked debates among historians and literary critics. This article discusses how Hemingway’s unfamiliar, new narration of the region created controversial interpretations. In doing so, the paper argues that Hemingway’s rupture from the romantic “magical East” imagery made his work (both his dispatches and fiction) compelling and unique.