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UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The Lazy, the Idle, the Industrious: Discourse and Practice of Work and Productivity in Late Ottoman Society Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3pj7009t Author Hafez, Melis Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Lazy, the Idle, the Industrious: Discourse and Practice of Work and Productivity in Late Ottoman Society A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Melis Hafez 2012 © Copyright by Melis Hafez 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Lazy, the Idle, the Industrious: Discourse and Practice of Work and Productivity in Late Ottoman Society by Melis Hafez Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor James L. Gelvin, Chair This dissertation traces the establishment of a binary between work and laziness from 1839 to 1920, the last century of the Ottoman Empire. Over this period, Ottoman society experienced an epochal shift in the discourses and practices of work. This study examines this shift, first, by exploring how concepts of work and productivity were moralized, socially practiced, militarized and politicized in a non-European modernity project, and second, by demonstrating how this emergent discourse, formulated as an issue of ‘national’ importance, became a constitutive element of the general nation-formation process within the last Ottoman century. I examine the configuration and development of the moralistic discourse of an ‘Islamic work ethic’ as an integral part of creating productive citizens. To do this, I consult an underutilized source, morality books, which display the connection between the mobilization for productivity, modern ii conceptualizations of body and time, and nation formation. Emphasizing the role of social practice in emergent discourses, I investigate how the bureaucratic reforms of the state in the last Ottoman century played a pivotal role in the transformation of concepts and practices of work. By the time of the revolution of 1908, anxieties over work, laziness, productivity and the shaping of the industrious body became not only political but also militarized issues. Debates over the new concepts of self and the body of the political subject reveal the broader conflicts that took place within Ottoman society. Scornful portrayals of the dandy in works of fiction, the development of an exclusionist language in morality texts against the lazy/idle elements of society, and the polemics between various political agents that took place in the political journals signaled a vital debate on what sort of model citizen their standpoint proposed for the nation. By tracing the notion of laziness as a social problem in the last century of the Ottoman Empire, this study places the discourses and practices of work and against laziness, with all of their shared assumptions and conflictual standpoints, at the center of an Ottoman modernity. iii The dissertation of Melis Hafez is approved. Gabriel Piterberg Mariko Tamanoi Stephen Frank James L. Gelvin, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Vita Introduction 1 Chapter I: Laziness as a Social Disease: Development of Modern Concepts of Work in the Ottoman Reform Period (1839 to 1908) 24 Chapter II: A New Ethos at the Work Site: Practicing New Work Concepts in Late Ottoman Society 90 Chapter III: The Ottoman Body “Abnormal, Amorphous and Accustomed to Slacking”: Producing the Productive Body 117 Chapter IV: The Lazy and the Dandy in Ottoman Literary Imagination 155 Chapter V: Exclusionism at Work: Tensionswithinthe Language of Mobilization of Work 187 Epilogue 214 Bibliography 220 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It does not take writing a dissertation to understand how much one is indebted to others, but writing one increases this realization exponentially. I would like to express my thanks to the people and institutions that assisted me both prior to and during the time I wrote this thesis. For any errors or inadequacies of this work, of course, the responsibility is entirely my own. I am extensively indebted to my mentors and professors in the Department of History, at the University of California Los Angeles, which, in my “unbiased” opinion, is the best history department in existence. My deepest gratitude and admiration goes to my supervisor Professor James L. Gelvin. Throughout my studies, he has provided me excellent guidance, patient support, and continued mentorship, for which I am beyond grateful. The first seminar I took with him in 2003 as an undergraduate student not only changed my ignorant belief of history being an auxiliary science, but also made me want to become a historian. I owe him beyond this acknowledgement can even start to express. I am very grateful for the excellent advice of Professor Gabriel Piterberg. His scholarship and continued support helped me immensely in my studies. Professor Mariko Tamanoi has not only guided me in my studies, but has been extremely supportive and understanding in moments of need, for which I am thankful. I would like to thank my committee members Stephen Frank and Janice Reiff for sharing their knowledge and guiding me in my research. Among the innumerable people to whom I owe a debt of gratitude are Perry Anderson and Carlo Ginzburg for allowing me to be a fly on the wall in their reading group in 2006. A very special thank you, with gratitude, goes to Professor Teofilo Ruiz, who has been my mentor and a role model. My escape to the Department of History and my survival in it would not be realized without Teo’s categorical belief in me. vi I must also acknowledge the terrific staff in the Department of History at UCLA, especially Hadley Potter, Barbara Bernstein, Ebony Shaw, Nancy Dennis, Amanda Patrick, and Paul Padilla. Their helpfulness, accompanied with their positive attitudes, enabled my survival both at teaching and research in countless ways. You really are the best. I am indebted to many people and institutions. I would like to express my thanks to the staff of The Prime Ministry Archives, YRL (especially Ms Valerie Rom-Hawkins), the ISAM Research Library, Millet Kutuphanesi, and Ataturk Kitapligi. History Department’s recruitment fellowship and UCLA Graduate Division’s Dissertation Year Fellowship supported my research and dissertation writing. I would like to express my appreciation to the members of Department of History at Rice University for providing a relaxed atmosphere for me to teach and continue my research. I am thankful for the friendship of T.J. Fitzgerald, and the hospitality of Ussama Makdisi and Elora Shihabuddin in my days in Houston, TX. I would like to extend my thanks to Isa Blumi for his never ending enthusiasm, encouragement, and support he showed for my work. I cannot forget here my instructors from LAMC, late Dr. Jane Thomas, and especially my philosophy instructor Douglas McFerran, to whom I am grateful for always encouraging me. I am very thankful to have Ritika Prasad, Matthew Kelly, Anindita Nag, Constanze Weise, Camila Pastor, Suzie Abajian, Lauren H. Janes, Ann Lucas, Naomi Taback, Jacob Collins, Murat Yildiz, Sung Eun Choi, Shawky al-Zatmah, Chien-ling Liu, Ziad Aburish, Claire Gilbert, Mary Momdji, Konstantinos Thanasakis, Natalie Khazaal, Daphne Rosenblatt as friends and colleagues. If not for you, UCLA and Los Angeles would not have been what it is to me now. My friends and colleagues all over the map deserve a very warm thanks from me. Dr. Nagihan Haliloglu has been a wonderful friend and an agitator of mind. Zehra Kucukaga, among vii other things, made my days of research in Istanbul memorable. I am thankful for the friendships of Kent Schull, who has always been there for me; Rezzan Karaman, for, among countless other things, engaging in binge poetry reading with me whenever I wanted to turn my back to the world; Ceren Abi, especially for the most lyrical ink and carbon; Sumeyye Kocaman, for her fantastic personality; Reem Bailony, for, among many things, making my last year at UCLA so nice with her friendship. You guys helped me make awesome memories in a corner of a world I came to call home for more than a decade. Dr Ismail Hakki Kadi has graciously shared with me his knowledge and genuine support. Writing this dissertation would have been drastically different (i.e. painful) if not for Tiffany Gleason, who never ceases to amaze me with her excellent scholarship and heart of gold; Asma Nemati, who can never be far regardless of what part of the world she is in; Mehmet Ali Guveli, whose belief in this project has been very heartening; Betul Cakirca, whose wisdom, combined with her amazing humor has always been a breeze; and Nefertiti Takla, who, with cheerful friendship, and gracious personality, has been there for me, especially in my moments of need. I am deeply thankful for the friendship of Dr. Ayse Guveli, whose decade-long companionship on our road to Ithaca, I regard as a fortune; Dr. Fatma Barbarosoglu, who has always believed in me and sustained my inner Suhendan; Lutfiye Gemici, who has given me her unceasing dostluk since we met over a copy of Erbain in 1995; and my Selin Avakemian Alam, who has been a sister –and amazing one at that!- I never had. I am grateful to all of you for bearing with me, helping me, encouraging me, sustaining my insanity and enriching my humanity. On this strange old world, can anyone dream of having such good friends? viii I would like to express my love to my wonderful family members, first my brother Munir Hafez, who has always set very high standards for me and to whom I owe a great childhood.
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