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the forts and keeping the garrisons paid. Each of these sec- tions is subdivided into chapters dealing in detail with the types of guns used and the various groups of the garrisons. Each element is described from a vast amount of documen- tary evidence, all referenced in the notes and at the end of the book so we can trace the kind of sources he used and their location in the enormous Ottoman Archives in Istanbul. The Maliyeden Müdevver, Mühimme Defterleri, Baş Muhasebe, Kepeci and TapuTahrir are definitely the most important archive sections for data on this topic. Curiously, however, the author seems not to have used the rich source to be found in the Cevdet Askeri. After the habitual acknowledgements, the book starts with an introduction (pp. 1-11) giving a kind of ‘state of the art’ with references to the most important books and studies on Ottoman warfare and commenting on the strengths and weaknesses of these works. There then follow some remarks on what the author plans to do in the book: provide a sys- tematic account of Ottoman fortress life, organization and administration, and discuss both the idea of frontiers and their importance to Ottoman history and historiography. Wherever needed the author takes a comparative approach TURCICA and gives examples of how the Ottoman frontier fits into larger paradigms. STEIN, M.L. — Guarding the frontier. Ottoman border forts I would make a small critical remark at this point. One and garrisons in Europe. I.B. Tauris, London & New wonders why, right at the beginning of the introduction, we York, 2007. (22,5 cm, IX, 222). ISBN 978-1-84511- read, “… the two empires faced each other in the Balkans 301-8. £ 57.50. since Sultan Süleyman I’s destruction of the Hungarian king- When taking this 222-page well-produced book in his dom in 1526.” This is a bit misleading, since the conflict is hand the initiated reader is inclined to think that this is the much older. It goes back at least to 1428, when Murad II first book, since well-known German standard works of the took a big slice of Serbia (Djordje Branković’s capital 18th century, to give a solid and comprehensive overview of Kruševac/Alaca Hisar) to better defend his Balkan territories Ottoman defensive works in Southeastern Europe — how against continuous Hungarian raids. Massive Ottoman raids they were built and kept going. On closer inspection it deep into Habsburg Austria (Kärnten/Carinthia, and Steier- becomes clear that the work has a narrower focus, but is mark/Styria as far as Bruck an der Mur) took place on a large certainly solid, based as it is on an impressive mass of Otto- scale more than half a century before “1526”, i.e. during the man administrative records, which are usually lacking in the reign of Süyleiman’s great-grandfather Mehmed II, and older publications due to the inaccessibility of the sources grandfather Bayezid II. These devastating raids lasted from and the difficulties of reading the 17th century Ottoman Turk- 1473 to 1494 and stopped for the next 25 years only after the ish used by the central administration, a language replete disastrous defeat of the Akıncıs by the troops of the new with little-known abbreviations and technical terms and usu- Habsburg Emperor Maximilian (1493-1518) in 1494. Thus ally giving the numbers of men and money coded in the the Ottoman and the Habsburg empires collided much earlier nasty DivânRakamları. In his introduction the author makes than 1526, as Stein seems to suggest. clear that in fact his Europe is restricted to the Ottoman- In the first chapter, “Frontiers and Ottoman Frontiers” Habsburg border, the well-known Habsburg Militärgrenze. (pp. 13-27), the latter aspect is discussed in more detail, also Indeed, from this long swath of land only the Hungarian part making clear Frederic Jackson Turner’s famous “Frontier is covered, with a focus on two important fortresses: Nagy- Thesis” (1893) for non-American readers. Although Turner kanisza, Kanije for the Ottomans in the south of the present himself thought that his thesis was only valid for the Ameri- day Hungary, and Neuhäusel, now Nové Zámky in today’s can frontier, his idea was taken up by many others and came Slovakia and Uyvâr for the Ottomans, who used the Hungar- to dominate discussion of all frontiers worldwide, a discus- ian name of the place. All three forms mean new castle. In sion that spread through the entire 20th century. Its echoes the case of Nagykanisza Stein makes clear that this fortress can still be heard today. Thus, in essence, Stein gives a town was in fact very important and the stories of its siege refreshing documented comparative overview, using a wide and defence resonated as far as Namik Kemal, the 19th cen- range of books and studies in a way often lacking in the tury Ottoman poet and writer of great renown. His work on historiography of Southeastern Europe and even modern the defence of Kanije by the legendary Tiryaki Hasan Pasha Turkey. was being republished as late as 1941 (rich bibliography by The second half of the first chapter deals specifically with Geza David, “Kanije” in TürkiyeDiyanetVakfıİslâmAnsik- the Ottoman frontier. Although the book in essence deals lopedisi. 24, Istanbul 2001). with the situation in Hungary, it first gives us a useful over- This solidly bound and nicely printed book gives, over its view of the characteristics of life on the Ottoman frontier at 222 pages, a systematic overview of the various aspects of large and discusses the roots of a typical frontier society, fortification, armament, garrison troops and garrison size. It referring to the history of the Seldjuks of Rum and their pre- elaborates in great detail the financial aspects of maintaining decessors, the Umayyads and the Abbasids, knocking at the

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doors of Byzantine Anatolia. Here the influential theories of palisade — as is often maintained — but also to a smaller Fuad Köprülü and Paul Wittek are unfolded and a link is fort solidly built in stone. The name of the little town of Bela made to the situation in 16-17th century Hungary. To deepen Palanka in Serbia (from the 1630s), the equally small town the background, the author mentions three key sources that of Kriva Palanka/Eğridere Palanka in Macedonia from the form the basis of our perception of the Islamic-Byzantine same period, or Sigri on Lesbos/Midilli (1765s) and other frontier zone in southern Anatolia: the Greek epic of Digenis sites are all definitely called “Palanka” and are mentioned as Akritas, on the one hand, and the epic of Seyyid Battal Gazi such in Ottoman accounts of their construction. along with the Book of Dede Korkut, on the other. He might The reason why the Ottomans did not want sharp pointed also have used the 13th century Danişmendnâme. Although bastions goes simply down to military experience. When the hero of that epic lived more than a century later than the attacking gunners place their guns in the shape of an arch and period of those two works, he describes the same frontier fire directly at the nose of the bastion, the latter could not society and frontier ethics. As late as the mid-17th century the fire back because most of the guns along the star-shaped fort famous traveller Evliya Çelebi still heard the same epic sto- were placed on the curtain walls and in casements, which ries being recalled and sung by the common people across could not bring concentrated fire to bear on the enemy’s Central Anatolia. artillery. Chapter Two, which deals with the fortresses (pp. 29-61), After their early introduction the traceItalienne rapidly is divided into several sub-chapters: Seventeenth Century became a subject for drawing-board artists. Strict symmetry Siege Warfare, Ottoman Siegecraft, The Trenches, Ottoman became a dogma. Indeed, a 19th century specialist on fortifi- Artillery, Mine Attack, Military Supplies and, finally, “Otto- cation once exclaimed that, “Next to the theologians, the man Fortresses”, (pp. 48-54) which is subdivided into Archi- most dogma-addicted among mortals are definitely the for- tecture, and Equipment. Impressive lists of equipment in the tificators.” Not until in the early 19th century, with the intro- forts are given and armaments are described in detail. There duction of the New Prussian System, were bastions finally is a particularly useful explanation of the types of cannon abandoned and the artillery concentrated on the curtain walls, used, which disposes of the older European notion that the from where the much needed frontal fire could be given. Ottomans only had limited and deficient types of heavy gun What the Ottomans did was to build bulwarks with a polygo- and lacked effective field pieces. This idea was rejected con- nal form and a blunt nose. These bastion-like structures ena- vincingly in the recent research of Gábor Ágoston, which is bled plenty of flanking fire as well as frontal. Western rightly accepted wholeheartedly by Stein. The author then observers, indoctrinated in the virtues of strictly geometric describes the various types and calibre of the guns actually fortresses, never understood this and therefore thought the used, giving their exact names on the basis of vast documen- Ottoman forts were “inferior.” Stein summarises, “When the tation. At the end of the book the various types are again Ottomans did build forts they did not build large, up-to-date listed in a very practical table. structures. Ottoman forts were not as well designed and built How and what kind of guns were cast and used by the as European ones.” This is a very Euro-centric statement. Ottomans and their complicated terminology is very clearly The real case is that, for practical reasons, the Ottomans did explained for the interested but not specialized reader. But not want the bastioned forts following the Italian method. It why not include one or two good photographs of some of the should be added that in his later works the great French mas- magnificently decorated Ottoman guns? Pictures can easily ter builder of fortification, Sébastien le Prestre Vauban be found in the vast collections of the Turkish Army Museum (1633-1707) also abolished the sharp pointed bastions and at Harbiye (Istanbul), or even on the square of the landing made them blunt, preceded by a “couvreface” for further stage at Beşiktaş. They show that these weapons were also protection. Vauban’s major publications were translated into great works of calligraphy and decorative art. Ottoman Turkish on order of the reforming Sultan Selim III As for the book’s treatment of ‘Ottoman fortification’, and printed. Stein noted the existence of a manuscript copy some remarks are needed. Right from the beginning, in the of the two major works of Vauban, preserved in the library Introduction, Stein suggests that the Habsburgs and the Otto- of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, but he does not elaborate mans built fortifications ranging from “timber and dirt- on it. It could be added that more than a century after the walled palisades to enormous bastioned structures built Ottoman translation of Vauban’s works his siege methods according to the then state-of-the-art traceItalienne system.” and tactics were still applied by the Japanese army during the This is definitely not generally true. While palisaded earth- Siege and the Battle of Mukden, capital of Manchuria (Feb- works — usually called Palanka — were built in large num- ruary 1905) during the Russian-Japanese War. bers, the sharply pointed bastions and strictly geometrical, The chapter on Ottoman fortification mentions a few more star-shaped forms of the traceItalienne of the fort or fortress things that require comment. In the same chapter Stein states were — with the exception of one work — never used by the specifically, “Nor are there extant fortress plans available in Ottomans. The great and only exception to the rule is the the archive collections.” This was definitely true when Stein citadel of New Navarino, on the southern Peloponnese, wrote but is no longer. In the spring of 2014, when the cata- which was designed by an anonymous Western architect and logue of the collections of fortress plans was finally com- built between 1572 and 1577. The building orders, preserved pleted, a very instructive exposition of a large number of in the MühimmeDefters, state that the castle had to be built Ottoman fortress plans was held in the new building of the in “Frankish Style.” This was used only for the citadel. The Ottoman archives at Kâğıthane-Sadabad. We also read in other parts of the great fort, the heavy coastal battery and Stein that “narrative sources are equally vague on details curtain walls were again built in the pure Ottoman manner. of fortress construction,” after which an example is given of In many places in the book, including the Glossary of these narrative sources, here the much cited “Silihdar Tar- Terms, we find the word Palanka used for a small defensive ihi” of Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa on the construction of the work. Yet Palanka refers not only to an earthwork with a new forts at the entrance of the Dardanelles (1658/59). Stein

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bewails the lack of more detailed information on the design abundantly by Stein — it becomes apparent that the Habs- and armament and the size of the workforce engaged in the burg army was rather well informed. One of these anony- construction. In passing, Stein also mentions that “there are mous sources must have been used in the preparations of the some archival materials relevant to fortress repair.” Here, strengthening of the border defence as expressed in the meas- however another kind of sources could have come to his aid: ures undertaken by Erzherzog Karl after the conference in the vast amount of muhasebes (accounts) of the expenditure Bruck an der Mur in 1578. This very conference marks the for the various building materials, the numbers of actual beginning of the famous Habsburg Militärgrenze. builders, stone cutters, masons, carpenters and black smiths, Another point about the Ottoman garrisons that certainly etc., where we find the needed information in every possible would have to be mentioned in some detail in a book like the detail. This material was made accessible forty years ago in one under review concerns the presence of large numbers of a long and extraordinarily useful article (“Osmanlı Mimari Christians serving in the Ottoman garrisons. They abound in Tarihinin Arşiv Kaynakları”) by Muzaffer Erdoğan in Tarih the late 16th century pay books of the garrisons along the Dergisi 5-6 (1953), pp. 95-122, the Journal for History of the whole line of forts and castles in Slavonia, an integral section Istanbul University. It is not mentioned in Stein’s copious of the Ottoman frontier against Habsburg. Here Christians Bibliography section. We might mention only the accounts served as martoloz under Muslim command, or Muslims of the castles of Cernik and Požega in Slavonia, or the served under Christian bölükbaşıs. This to the great amaze- accounts of the construction of the great castle of Avlonya ment of the Christian armies fighting “the Turks”. Stein does (Valona) in Albania, facing the Venetian bulwark of Corfu, mention the Christian martoloz (pp. 89-93) but has them or the day-to-day account of the construction of Tophane serving under Muslim command, which is only half the Castle in Thessaloniki from 1592/93, or the great works of story. Furthermore it is suggested that the Martolozân served fortification such as Niš in Serbia or Vidin in the north-west- in particular in Hungary. In this case he relies on an early ern corner of Bulgaria. Only a bit of this vast material has work of İnalcik (“Stefan Duşan’dan Osmanlı İmparatorluğuna: been published and an unwieldy mass of documentation XV. Asırda Rumeli’de Hıristiyan Sipahiler ve Menşeleri” in remains virtually untouched. In the case of the Tophane Cas- FuadKöprülüArmağanı/MélangesFuadKöprülü, Istanbul tle and the construction of the great Kuşaklı Kule (“Girded 1953, pp. 207-248), which largely deals with the Christian Tower”) at Trigonon in Thessaloniki, the Ottoman records sipahis of the 15th century. In fact large groups of martoloz are supported by dendro-chronological evidence, giving the served in the Slovenian garrisons, Bijela Stijena, Cernik, same date of construction of these works and thus supporting Dobra Kuca, Velika, Sirče, Stupčanica, Virovitica, Voćin each other. and others. They already did so in the period before Stein’s Chapter 3 deals with Garrison Troops (pp. 63-104) and work. The Serbian key fortress of Semendire (Smederevo) is split into five sections: Yeniçeri, Azeb, Topçu; Top on the Danube might be cited as an explicit case, which in Arabacı, Cebeci; Anbarcı; Çavuş, Kâtip, Müstahfiz, Marto- 1526 had 837 Christian martoloz, gunners and zemberekci los, Segban, Gönüllü, Kapudan, Mehter; Religious Officials; compared to 125 Muslim soldiers, meaning the garrison was and finally Other Garrison Troops, miners, müsellem and 87% Christian (Aleksandar Fotić — Machiel Kiel, “Semen- levends. The names of each of these groups, their origin, dire” in TürkiyeDiyanetVakfıİslâmAnsiklopedisi, vol. 36, function and payment are explained in detail, and the salaries Istanbul 2009, pp. 467-470). Even in a place far south like of the troops are given based on vast documentation from the the Macedonian district of Kriva Palanka we find, as late as Ottoman payrolls. At the end of the book there is a useful 1695, that 79% of the total Ottoman military force were Glossary which mentions the names of these functions again, Christian. In the records of 16th century Semendire and late as well as the English equivalents. 17th century Kriva Palanka all the military men (the Muslims Chapter 4 deals in detail with the Garrison Size. This is and the Christians) are mentioned one by one with their also described in great detail and on a solid base of the pre- father’s name or nickname, preventing any confusion. In the served Ottoman records. It ends with an interesting compara- context of the historiography of Southeastern Europe, spoiled tive section, The Forts Compared (pp. 118-122), which con- by an almost mystical nationalism, such observations are of siders the forts of Uyvar and Kanije, the main focus of the much greater importance than elsewhere. book. Interesting is the conclusion that the size of the garri- Chapter 5, entitled Frontier Administration (pp. 122- sons was not static but kept changing and adjusting as the 152), is the last in the book. It describes in detail how the situation changed. Stein notes here that “…the central financial system worked, how difficulties and sudden crises administration knew what troops were serving where, and leading to mutiny and uprisings were managed. A major part reassigned troops in response to strategic and tactical devel- of this chapter is given over to a key document. This is the opment.” He explains that “This situation is another example report of the defterdar of Uyvar, the man responsible for of the pragmatism that was in many ways the hallmark of the administration of the finances of the fortress and the Ottoman frontier administration.” province of Uyvar/Neuhäusel. Dating from around 1674, it Some critical points should be raised here. One wonders gives us a fresh insight into the problems and shortcomings why exiting material on the question “what did the enemy of the day. Stein published the entire text of this valuable know” about the strength of the Ottoman forces opposing find, discovered just a year before his book appeared (Bibli- them is not discussed by the author. Habsburg “spy reports” ography, p. 210). This again provides a bit of comparison were published long ago by Radoslav Lopašić as “Spomenici with the situation elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire and in hrvatske krajine” in MonumentaspectantiahistoriamSlavo- Europe. The author refers to the work of Virginia Aksan on rummeridionalum, 15, Zagreb 1884, pp. 44-48; and more “Mutiny in the 18th Century Ottoman Army” or Palmira have been used by Nataša Štepanac, 2005 (see below). When Brummet’s “Classifying Ottoman Mutiny” or Caroline Fin- we compare these “spy reports” with the pay lists of the kel’s French “Mercenaries” with the story of how an entire Ottoman garrisons at the Habsburg border forts — as used garrison of French troops switched loyalties from the

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Habsburgs to the Ottoman when they were not paid (refer- Birol Çetin, Osmanlıİmperatorluğu’ndaBarutSanayı, ences in Stein’s Bibliography, p. 193, 194 and 197). Mutiny Ankara (Kültür Bakanlığı) 2001, should have been used or was also a big problem for the Spanish army in the Southern mentioned. Netherlands during the Eighty Years War between imperial Nataša Štepanac’s rich article “Demographic changes on Spain and the rebellious Northern Netherlands (1568-1649), the Habsburg-Ottoman Border in Slavonia (ca. 1570-1640)” as magnificently described by Geoffrey Parker in his Army in: Kurtz, Scheutz, Vocelka und Winkelbauer (eds.), Das of Flanders and the Spanish Road (Cambridge 1972). Osmanische Reich und die Habsburgmonarchie, Wien- A reminder of these mutinies is still visible today in the München (Oldenburg Verlag) 2005, pp. 551-578 evidently northern French district of Thièrache (Dept. of l’Aisne, cen- reached the author too late. tring on Vervins) in the form of dozens of fortress-churches David Nicolle’s useful overview: OttomanFortification built in that period to protect the French peasants against the 1300-1710, Oxford (Osprey Publishing). 2010, appeared too marauding Spanish soldiery. late to be incorporated. The book closes with a compactly written Conclusion In spite of our brief remarks Stein’s work remains a valu- (pp. 153-156). At the end Stein makes a beautiful remark able piece of scholarship on which others can build. The about the often forgotten human factor: “The soldiers serv- topic of frontier defence and fortification is almost endless ing in the forts of both great empires were men, trying to and perhaps it was the right decision of the author to focus earn a living and live their lives. The same is true for the only on two large and representative fortresses. peasant farmers and merchants living in the region. The (For a rather different opinion see the review article of population of this region did form a joint community of Gábor Ágoston in JESHO 52 (2009), pp. 159-163). sorts. Each individual living on the frontier found himself within a nexus of shifting relationships and interactions. Bonn & Istanbul, Machiel KIEL Some linked him to the centre of the state to which he owed October 2014 his allegiance. Others united him with his purported enemy across the frontier. The Ottoman Habsburg frontier was a socially and economically dynamic zone of transition, * where different peoples and states met and interacted, and * * which was defined by the transitional nature of those interactions.” Finally a few remarks should be made about the way the FETVACI, E. — Picturing History at the Ottoman Court. book is organized. There are remarkably few printing mis- Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, takes, but “Neühausel” (p. 10), which makes no sense and 2013 (27.7 cm, xiii, 317). ISBN 978-0-253-00678-3. should be “Neuhäusel”, and “Escorail” (p. 202) is given for $45. “Escorial.” The system of references is, unfortunately, extremely user- The second half of the 16th century doubtless was the rich- unfriendly. Not having footnotes but shortened references at est period for Ottoman historiography that ever existed. the end of the book forces the reader go to the Bibliography These years, and in particular the reigns of the sultans to finally find what he needs. This is a system where the Murad III and Mehmed III, saw the appearance of Mustafa reader needs seven fingers on one hand or, better still, three Âli Efendi’s famous Künhül-ahbar (‘Essence of Histories’), hands. a world history with a substantial fourth, ‘Ottoman’ volume, The Bibliography is simply impressive, citing works in while the period is also covered in the detailed and matter- English, German, some French and Hungarian, and a multi- of-fact chronicles of Peçevî and Selânikî. In the same period, tude of Turkish works. But the rich literature in the Slavic most spectacularly, an unparalleled great number of richly languages is wholly absent. Since it would have been useful illustrated works, mostly on contemporary events, were pro- to look closer into where and how gunpowder was produced duced, composed by court historians as well as a range of in daily practice, the author might have referred to John clerks (münșîs) in the employ of pashas connected to the Alexander’s work on the gunpowder producing villages in palace in Istanbul. After the death of Mehmed III in 1603, the central Peloponnese, which provides fascinating insights: all of a sudden this fashion died out, with the exception of “Tax exemptions and the spread of gunpowder manufactur- the turbulent years 1618-22, which ended in the execution ing in the Peloponnese during the 16th century — The Kaza of the young sultan Osman II. (The illustrated manuscripts of of Karytaina and the Case of Dimitsana” [in Greek], in: this later period are the subject of Tülün Değirmenci’s excit- PraktikatouEDiethnousSynedriouPeloponnesiakonSpou- ing book, İktidarOyunlarıveResimliKitaplar;II.Osmanlı don (Argos-Nauplio September 1995), Athens 1998, vol. IV, DevrindeDeğișenGüçSimgeleri[‘Power Play and Illus- pp. 195-233. The gunpowder villages were privileged and, as trated Books; Symbols of Might during the Reign of Osman a result, grew rich. Their former wealth can still be seen in II’], Istanbul 2013, that one could read as a sequel to Fetvacı’s the great and monumental churches built in villages like study.) Most of the hundreds of miniatures which occur in Dimitsana or Stemnitsa and others, with exquisite fresco- these books were produced by artists working for the palace, painted interiors: an unexpected side-effect of the needs of where the manuscripts were also written out by professional the Ottoman Army in bygone years. The following works copyists/calligraphers and the books finally bound in often could also be added: splendidly tooled covers. With a few exceptions, the final Klaus Jordan, Bibliographie zur Geschichte des Fes- products found their way to the Topkapı Palace library in its tungsbauesvondenAnfängenbis1914, Marburg (Deutsche various divisions and most of them are still kept there. Gesellschaft für Festungsforschung) 2003 (432 pages!) is a Much has already been written on the Ottoman historiog- painful omission. raphy of this period — some of the texts have also been

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edited, fewer, in fact only one, translated into Western lan- in the genre of the gazaname (‘book of holy war’), were guages.1) And many of the miniatures have, often more than sponsored by, respectively, the grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed once, been published as postcards, posters and as plates in Pașa (murdered in 1579), the chief black eunuch Mehmed art-historical books, but as yet no general history of these Ağa, the grand vizier Koca Sinan Pașa (d. 1596) and the illustrated manuscripts had, as far as I can see, been written. chief white eunuch Gazanfer Ağa (d. 1603), and authored by This gap has now been filled by Emine Fetvacı, associate münșîs and some of the mentioned șehnamecis. The last professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at Boston Univer- three mentioned patrons were also known as book lovers and sity, and her book, an exhaustive and richly illustrated study manuscript collectors. (One of the manuscripts owned by based on secondary literature and primary sources, among Gazanfer Ağa curiously found its way to the Leiden Univer- them some documents in the Topkapı Palace archive, will no sity Library as part of the Warner collection [Cod.Or. 333]; doubt remain the standard study on the topic for many years the book is a history of the reign of Selim II by Mehmed to come. Vusulî (d. 1590), unfortunately without miniatures.) The The book presents us with a more or less chronological sponsors had almost always an ulterior motive, namely the survey of the manuscripts and their often intriguing back- promotion of their own career. The miniatures in them had, ground. Aspects highlighted include their production, use, not surprisingly, the function of further emphasizing the aims and (covert) messages, the personalities behind and, important position of the sponsor by having him pictured as, literally, in the manuscripts, including authors, writers, art- for instance, a heroic warrior on the field of battle, or high- ists, patrons, intermediaries and the personalities addressed ranking personality at court, prominently figuring in court and pictured in the books. This brings us right to the heart of ceremonies. The number of such works increased during the the Ottoman Empire, the Topkapı Palace and its personnel, half century under discussion when the sultans more and the sultan and his courtiers, the harem ladies and the top more withdrew from public life, preferring a role in the back- brass of the empire’s government and army. Many of them, ground, increasingly spending their time in their private in varying and changing ways, be they pages, story tellers, chambers and the harem. scholars, eunuchs, sultans’ mothers or princesses, were Perhaps the most curious item in this category is the Tarih- involved in the highly developed book culture thriving in the iFeth-iYemen (‘History of the Conquest of Yemen’) written palace during these years. These years also saw the develop- by the cleric Rümuzî on orders of grand vizier Koca Sinan ment of a typical Ottoman style of painting, representing the Pașa in exchange for an appointment as tax collector in ideals of an Ottoman identity, that slowly had evolved away Yemen, a shameless work of self-propaganda by the arch- from the still dominating Persian iconography that focused villain of our period (discussed in Chapter 5). The manu- on fiction and mythology rather than historiography. The script contains the astounding number of 89 miniatures, most texts in our manuscripts, likewise, saw a gradual change of them glorifying the heroic deeds supposedly performed by from the medium of Persian verse towards Ottoman Turkish the pasha in earlier days in Yemen (reconquered in 1569-71) prose, while the refined Persianite ta῾līq script was replaced and Tunis (occupied in 1574). With the book, the pasha, by bolder Ottoman naskh. whose reputation as a ruthless manipulator had suffered The flourishing of the illustrated manuscript between greatly during his long political career, including, thanks to c. 1550 and 1603 is closely connected with the appearance his personal wealth, five periods as grand vizier, wanted to of salaried court chroniclers, șehnamecis, persons who were boost his reputation and ingratiate himself with the recently ordered to write ‘books of kings’ in the style of Firdawsi’s enthroned sultan, Mehmed III, to whom the book was offered Shahnama, and were given the task to write about, or rather, in 1595. The life and deeds of the pasha are well documented in the early stages, to compose Persian rhymed works, pref- in contemporary chronicles, and his wickedness in particular erably in the metre of the Shahnama, on the glorious deeds exposed in all its sinister details by Mustafa Âli in the of the Ottoman sultans. The first of them was Arifî (d. 1562), ‘Essence’. Whereas in Rümuzî’s text, Sinan is pictured as who thus composed a Persian Süleymanname (‘Book of Sül- the heroic conqueror of Yemen, in truth, according to Âli, eyman’, of 1558) in praise of the ruling sultan Süleyman the most of the dirty work had already been done by Özdemir Magnificent. He was succeeded by Seyyid Lokman of Urmia, Osman Pașa, like Âli himself a protégé of Lala Mustafa Pașa, Ta’likizade Mehmed el-Fenarî (d. 1599) and Hasan Hükmî who, as governor of Syria, had been ordered to suppress the (d. 1603). (Of a certain Nutkî, mentioned only in the preface Yemenite rebellion. But the latter had been dismissed after to the Leiden copy of the Künhül-ahbar, no work has so far Sinan, at the time governor of Egypt, had informed the Porte been discovered.) that he had tried to poison him and restore Mamluk rule to But apart from these laudatory writings in, formally, direct Egypt. Fearing for his life, Osman Pașa fled from Yemen commission of the sultan (an editorial commission seems to to Mecca and from there to Istanbul. have checked that the contents and pictures were acceptable, Mustafa Âli himself also figures as one of the authors in cf. p. 69), more exciting — and controversial — illustrated this story. After he had joined Lala Mustafa Pașa as münșî manuscripts were produced parallel to the grand șehname- on the Shirvan campaign of 1579, he wrote the Nusretname style histories. These were written by authors on their own (‘Book of Victory’), which, with the help of his protégés at account and/or commissioned by courtiers and some influen- the palace, in particular the aforementioned Gazanfer Ağa, tial pashas (discussed in chapters 3 to 6). These texts, mostly was turned into a magnificent illustrated manuscript pro- duced by court painters, containing 48 miniatures, some of which occupy double pages. The book was offered to sultan 1) Nicolas Vatin, Ferîdûn Bey; Lesplaisantssecretsdelacampagne Murad III in 1584. Âli, who at the time was fief-registrar deSzigetvár (LIT Verlag, Münster 2010), which is an edition and transla- tion into French of Ahmed Feridun Bey’s Nüzhetül-esrâril-ahbârder (timardefterdarı) at Aleppo (where he produced a first draft sefer-iSigetvar, discussed in Fetvacı’s book in Chapter 3. Vatin’s book is of the text with five locally painted miniatures) and had lost reviewed by me in BiOr LXXI (2014), pp. 274-277. the protection of Lala Mustafa Pașa who died in 1580, did,

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to his regret, not profit from the project, and was not pro- books in the palace and the items lent out. Most books were moted, as he had hoped, to a more prestigious job by the perhaps never read; during research in the Topkapı library in sultan. the 1980s all manuscripts I saw were absolutely pristine, There is no room here to go into all the fascinating details without the slightest trace of ever having been touched. of this exciting period in the cultural history of Ottoman Another little documented question is how and where the Empire discussed in Fetvacı’s book. Apart from the many manuscripts were produced. The question is discussed in curious stories about personalities and, indeed, ‘power Chapter 2. We know quite a lot about the personalities games’ in which they were involved, the author also tackles involved if such matters were spelt out in the introductory some fundamental book-historical questions. What happened chapters of the texts themselves, which was not always the with the illustrated manuscripts? Where they only luxurious case, but little on the technical aspects. From the palace objects to be kept under lock and key in the palace treasury, archives it is clear that artisans of various specialisations, as some scholars have maintained, or were they actually among them writers/calligraphers and illustrators/illumina- read, recited and the pictures shown to the inhabitants of the tors (nakkaș), were on the Topkapı pay roll — in 1596 even palace, and if so by and to whom? There is little documenta- 62 of them (p. 72) — but the names of only a few individual tion on this. We know that books were esteemed items in gift artists are known, and documentation on a workshop or exchanges — that explains, for instance, the massive pres- workshops is non-existent. ence of illustrated Shahnama’s in the Topkapı Library; they mostly were brought by Safavid ambassadors to the Porte. Leiden University Jan SCHMIDT Manuscripts were also actively collected by sultans and the January 2015 libraries of many a deceased book-loving courtier were con- fiscated and, as far as they were not sold off, incorporated into the palace library. But there is more. Fetvacı argues on * the basis of documentation in the palace archive that the * * books, at least some books, did not remain in one place but moved to different chambers of the palace complex, includ- ing the harem, or were lent out to named individuals, sultans, COHEN, J.P.– Becoming Ottomans. Sephardi Jews and but also to pages educated in the Palace school who were Imperial Citizenship in the Modern Era. Oxford Univer- required to read texts of the regular medresecurriculum,2) sity Press, New York, 2014. (24 cm, XIX, 219). ISBN and even to outsiders such as medical doctors and viziers. 978-019-934040-8. £ 22.99; $ 35.00. Because the sultans after Süleyman spent more time in the ‘I walked to Bursa … in six hours. I took a room in Hotel palace they let themselves be entertained by scholars, sufi Izmir, a Jewish hotel. Because the rabbi of Mudanya would masters, poets, story tellers, and buffoons (these were often not have let me alone on Saturday, I fled from the town. The pictured in palace scenes). Among them may have been the road is good … On the roads I came across many gendarmes s who recited from their works; an alternative title șehnameci on horseback carrying rifles. In the evening Sukkot [Feast of of their function was that of (‘ -reciter’). șehnameguy șehname Tabernacles] began and I felt obliged to go to the synagogue. Fetvacı also suggests that illustrated manuscripts in particular There are three of them here in Bursa, one next to the other. played a role in ‘participatory entertainment’ (p. 39), whereby I had never seen a ghetto. It was strange for me to live here illustrated texts were not only recited but also shown to a now in the Kuruçeșme quarter. Everyone here is Jewish, selected company. But also here there is no hard proof. We blacksmiths, bakers etc. On feast days only food sellers open know from biographical passages in various works that indi- their shops. The synagogues are very big and beautiful. It vidual sultans, e.g. Murad III, or viziers did read books, was as if I were in another world when, in the evening, I whether or not as part of a collective happening. Whereas heard, now from one house, then from another, the prayers Selim II, although he seemed to have loved poetry (and, not of all the families, recited in very loud voices [bearing testi- coincidentally, wine as well), was not known as a great book mony of] a deep religiosity. The pietism of the oriental Jews lover (during his reign only one illustrated manuscript was always remains something incomprehensible to me.’ Thus produced on the instigation of grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed the German orientalist Karl Süssheim, himself a Jew, wrote Pașa), the following sultans were, and were especially happy in his unpublished diary1) on 24 September 1904. to listen to stories in Turkish. From traces in the Topkapı Such testimonies of Ottoman Jewish life by foreigners are archive we get, so much is also clear from Fetvacı’s foot- rare, and the existence of the Jewish minority in the Ottoman notes, only a very fragmentary picture of the movement of Empire in modern times is almost invisible, particularly if compared to that of the Greeks and Armenians. The Ottoman 2) Fetvacı at this point refers to the DescriptionduSérailduGrand Jews no longer were prominent as traders or bankers, as the Seigneur by the French ambassador Girardin, based on information from Greeks and Armenians were, or did they cause any problems ‘Bobovi’ (p. 31). The man, a Polish renegade, dragoman and court musi- to the authorities. That may be the reason that there are not cian, was in fact, in Latin style, called Bobovius, based on the original Polish Bobowski, and was locally known as Ali Ufkî Efendi. A Turkish many studies available on the history of the Ottoman Jews translation of the text was published in Istanbul in 2002 by Ali Berktay during the age of reform (tanzimat) and beyond. The more under the title AlbertusBoboviusyadaSanturiAliUfkiBey’inAnıları. Bobovius mentions, as Fetvacı writes, the term mülemma’ — the term is repeated in following passages in her book — which she explains as refer- ring to Ottoman Turkish of the most elevated style, a language “composed in multiple languages” (namely Arabic, Persian and Turkish). This must be 1) The diary, the second volume in a series mostly preserved in the a mistake: Redhouse Dictionary, to which she refers, only gives the more Berlin Staatsbibliothek, is kept in the Library of Congress, Washington DC, restricted meaning of “(a poem) composed half in one language and half but is not yet officially registered. The text, quoted here, was written in in another”. Italian; the translation is mine.

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welcome therefore is the fascinating study by Julia Phillips army (where they had little chance of a career or to be Cohen discussed here. accepted as equals by Muslims), nor did many of them want For centuries the Ottoman Empire had been a multi-ethnic their offspring to enter the modern state schools, prefer- and multi-religious state of the old, ‘mediaeval’ type, ruled ring their own private educational institutes. This in turn by a sultan who, in theory at least, exercised absolute power. made it more difficult for them to enter the bureaucracy, let Islam was its state religion but the presence of ‘peoples of alone the government, if only because they lacked sufficient the book’, Jews and Christians, was tolerated. Christians and mastery of Ottoman Turkish, the highly artificial language Jews were small minorities in the empire, the Jews compris- used in all paper work. For this they needed a profound ing about 500,000, the Greek Orthodox community 2 million knowledge of Arabic and Persian, languages, apart from and the Armenians 2,4 million souls in the mid-19th century Turkish and French, taught at the modern state schools. (p. 6) out of a total of about 35 million. The Jews were Cohen claims that her study is ‘the first book to tell the mostly living in the port cities of Istanbul, Izmir and Salonica unparalleled story of Jewish political integration into a mod- (Thessaloniki). These minorities to a certain extent could live ern Islamic empire’ (p. xii). This story is approached from as they pleased if they kept a low profile and were more or ‘the bottom-up’, whereby she lets the voices of the protago- less free to practice their own religion, but had to pay an nists themselves speak through primary sources like newspa- extra ‘poll tax’ and could not actively participate in the pub- per articles published in the Jewish (Ladino) press, archival lic domain. They were organized as ‘nations’ (millets), within documents, letters, consular reports, photographs and post- which they were autonomous in matters that concerned their cards (p. 15). From the scrutiny of these variegated sources own religion and private sphere, including education and the it is clear that the slow process of emancipation and integra- law, and were represented at the Porte by the heads of their tion could be characterized as an extended ‘balancing act’ by religions, patriarchs in the case of the Christians of various which the Ottoman Jews tried to appropriate the role of denominations, and a chief rabbi in the case of the Jews. This respectable citizens of the country in which they happened state of affairs began to change when, from the late 17th cen- to live, but which they had to share with Muslims, Greeks tury onwards, the balance of power in the world began to and Armenians and others. A complicating factor was that shift and the European powers were increasingly able to the ‘nation’ to which they belonged did not speak with one drive the Ottomans out of Europe and force them to do their voice. Central in this effort, much of which was image build- bidding as far as the rights of her citizens in the empire were ing through their own newspapers (but how many, if any, concerned. In practice this meant that Europeans could live non-Jewish Ottoman could read texts written in an antiquated in the empire and trade there. Eventually Europe, but Great form of Spanish in Hebrew script?) was the myth of the Britain, intent on keeping the empire intact, in particular, Ottoman hospitality with which the Sephardic Jews, after forced the empire to turn into a modern, liberal, ‘civilized’ they had been expelled from the Iberian peninsula in 1492, state along contemporary European norms (so that it could were received by Sultan Bayezid II. This had led to, they better resist the threat of other powers, Russia in particular, supposed, the development of a special relationship between to tear it apart). The Ottoman Empire was not colonized, but them and the ruling dynasty. But they forgot, as Cohen points the overall effect was more or less the same. While formerly out, that there were other Jews in the empire who been a feared world power, by the end of 19th century its status around in the area long before the Turks had arrived from had been reduced to that of a minor, if still large, regional Central Asia and the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. polity, which, to mention only a few aspects, had to allow The community, therefore, was not a unity, the more so the activities of religious missionaries within its borders, a because there was a division between, on one hand the con- large number of whose subjects were protected by the Euro- servative religious leaders of the community and the chief pean powers, and the management of whose public finances rabbi (whose position was clearly being undermined by the had been taken over by European bankers. reform legislation), and on the other, progressive intellectu- This policy of modernization and westernization took off als, such as the leading journalists of the Ladino press who in 1839, when, under European pressure, a first reforming wanted to be part of the modern world. The story of Jewish edict was issued by the recently enthroned sultan, Abdülme- emancipation and integration, then, is told in the four main cid I. One of the basic reforms concerned the status of chapters of Cohen’s book which describe four separate epi- the minorities, whose rights were to be equal to those of the sodes taking place during the final decades of the Ottoman Muslim majority so that in the end they should become, in Empire. the words of Cohen, ‘imperial citizens’ who were allowed to The first chapter concentrates on the years 1876-1878. wear the same clothes, visit the same schools, pay the same 1876 was the year in which an Ottoman constitution was taxes as everybody else and had the same opportunity as the proclaimed and a parliament was elected for the first time. It Muslims to become state officials, parliamentarians or make was shortly followed by a devastating war against Russia, a career in the army. Much of the reforms declared after which ended in defeat. This reform should have motivated 1839 at first remained theory — the measures met with wide- Jews to abandon ‘old world’ behaviour and take active part spread resistance of the Muslim majority — but gradually the in the newly founded institutions by, for instance, putting emancipation of the minorities, first the Christians, and later oneself up as candidate member of the new council of state. also the Jews, made progress. The latters’ social and eco- But somehow this did not happen. One of the problems was nomic position in the Ottoman Empire, in contrast to the the aforementioned poor mastery of Ottoman Turkish. Dis- Christians, who had the support of Western powers (which cussion of this problem in the Ladino press led to the organi- the Jews lacked), had steadily deteriorated since the 17th cen- zation of courses (but whether they were a success is not tury. Full emancipation eventually proved illusory, as Cohen clear). The war against Russia, furthermore, gave the Jews shows, also owing to the hesitation of the Jews themselves the opportunity of showing a patriotic spirit which went fur- who were not particularly eager, for instance, to join the ther than prayers for Ottoman victory and donations to the

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war effort. Some Jews, indeed, took the initiative in joining Tower. News of the harassment spread quickly and caused the army as volunteer and were even ready to give up kosher an outcry in the Athenian newspaper Akropolis. The leaders meals for it. A strong motive here was that Jews, no less than of the Jewish community held their breath and the Ladino Muslims, suffered from Russian atrocities in the Balkans and press decided that the best way to go forward was to keep that they were well aware that in Russia their co-religionists quiet. were discriminated and persecuted. The final chapter, then, discusses the year 1911 and the Chapter Two discusses the years 1892-1893. In 1892 it extended visit of Sultan Mehmet V to Salonica during his had been four hundred years since the Jews were expelled tour of Ottoman Macedonia as part of a public relations cam- from the Iberian peninsula, and the Izmir journalist Aron paign to rally popular support for the dynasty in a troubled Josef de Hazan started a campaign to publicly commemorate area. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 had caused a pro- the fact, celebrating the arrival of the exiles in the Ottoman found change in the Ottoman Empire. Political turmoil, a Empire (rather than lamenting their expulsion). The journal- clash with reactionary forces which had the support of the ist ignored, as Cohen shows, that there was not much to cel- sultan, the revival of the constitution and parliament (abol- ebrate. In fact, the Ottomans in earlier times had not been ished in 1878 by Abdülhamid) were followed by a decline in particularly friendly to the immigrants, who at the start the authority of the dynasty, a growing loss of Ottoman ter- became victims of a ruthless population policy whereby they ritory, a rise of Turkish nationalism, the first sporadic signs were forcibly settled in newly-conquered territory. Even as of Ottoman anti-Semitism, and an explosion of new political late as the early 19th century, the Ottomans did not hesitate parties. The Jewish community, meanwhile, had great diffi- to kill Jewish leaders when they, as financiers of the Janis- culties maintaining their pretence of unity and their special sary corps, had to bleed when that corpse was cruelly sup- relation with the dynasty, in particular by the growing popu- pressed in 1826. Even as late as the 1890s, the Ottomans larity of Zionism among them — which, in turn, was opposed showed no special hospitality to Jewish refugees from Greece by anti-Zionists (‘assimilationists’) — and the appearance of or Russia; ultimately only holders of Ottoman passports Jewish socialist groups which competed with middle-class were allowed in, and those who wanted to settle in the coun- Jewish associations. This became especially clear during the try were not free to live were they liked. The chief rabbi was sultan’s reception by various Jewish groups in Salonica in sceptical about the idea of celebrating 1492 anyway, and 1911. Instead of one, the streets were adorned with four dif- Sultan Abdülhamid was very suspicious when public dem- ferent arches: one of the assimilationists, another of the onstrations were mentioned. And what about the other Zionists, yet another of the Allatini Mill Company, and minorities, including the indigenous Jews, who had certainly finally one of the Jewish community of Salonica (see pic- not been received with open hands by the Ottomans but had tures on pp. 112-8). But differences were completely glossed been subjected by force? Eventually, to the disappointment over in speeches, in which the conventional themes of praise of de Hazan, the Jews toned down celebrations to a com- to the new regime and the loyalty of the Ottoman Jews to the memoration during public worship in their synagogues. More state stood central. There was no role in all of this for the successful was the Jewish involvement in the Columbian local Socialist Federation, mostly backed by Jewish workers, Exposition in Chicago in 1893, which allowed them to dem- suspected of plans to disturb the festivities. As a result, its onstrate their Ottoman identity to the world. A rich Jewish leader, a Jewish man called Abraham Benaroya, was exiled merchant, Elia Souhami, was able to obtain the concession to Serbia, and four of the Federation’s representatives, three to represent the empire and had a ‘Turkish village’ erected of whom were Jews, were arrested before the sultan arrived on a prominent spot as well as a Turkish Bazaar which gave in Salonica. The local Ladino Socialist paper indignantly him the opportunity to sell his carpets and other oriental wondered whether the days of Hamidian oppression had products. returned and revealed that the assimilationists had been The third chapter brings us to the years 1896-1897, which behind the arrests. One local Ladino newspaper deplored the saw massacres by revolutionary Armenians in Istanbul and inner-Jewish altercation and thought it ‘best to keep one’s counter-massacres by local Turks, Kurds and others — Jews, dirty laundry within the family’ (p. 124), but soon other especially those who lived in quarters which they shared with Ottoman Ladino papers hotly debated the issue. The assimi- Armenians, were involuntary victims of both. Then there was lationists, after weeks of silence, finally declared that they the Greco-Ottoman War which allowed the Jews to again, as had been victims of an anti-Semitic campaign. They also they had earlier done in the war against Russia, demonstrate revealed that the Socialist Federation had not wanted to par- their solidarity and their status as model ‘nation’ vis-à-vis the ticipate in the reception of the sultan, worse: ‘they did not Ottoman Muslims. Scandalously, it appeared that the solidar- want a sultan at all!’ as one of their leaders had declared ity for a group of about 100 Jewish volunteers went so far during a meeting, attended by Ottoman officials, in which the that they decided to convert to Islam. Both events brought organization of festivities was discussed (p. 126). the risk of rousing the hostility of, in the first case, the Arme- Thus, in the end, one can only conclude, all was in vain: nians and the Muslims, and in the second that of the Ottoman the Jewish unity appeared to be falling apart and the Jewish Greeks. Jewish leaders and Ladino journalists did their ‘balancing act’ a complete failure. Salonica was lost to utmost to take the sting out of these dangers. In order to keep Greece in 1913 (and had been under threat of Bulgarians, their peace with all groups, the Jews organized multi-ethnic Albanians and Greeks since 1878). Nationalism became the and multi-confessional balls and their newspapers empha- dominant ideology everywhere. The Ottoman Empire was sized intercommunal harmony. But the facts on the ground, dismembered after the First World War, and what was left so to speak, made this sometimes difficult, as when, for were ‘national homes’ for Christian Slavs and Greeks, Mus- instance, it became known that groups of Muslims and Jews lim Turks and Jews (in Palestine, later Israel); Kurds and scolded and humiliated Greek prisoners of war who had Armenians, in as far as they survived ethnic cleansing, were arrived at the Salonica station for imprisonment in the White left empty-handed. There was no longer place on earth for

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multi-ethnic and multi-confessional political entities like the Ausarbeitung eigener Raumkonzepte, die von der Verfasse- Ottoman Empire. Most Jews left Turkey after 1923. As for rin in jedem Kapitel einzeln besprochen werden und als Bursa, its Jewish population, whose presence went back to methodologische Grundlage dienen. Ausgehend von Kon- the 9th century, declined from c. 3500 in 1914, to 57, all zepten der „Erinnerungsräume“ nach Aleida Assmann, ent- elderly people, today. But two of the three synagogues still wickelt die Verfasserin die drei räumlichen Kategorien, stand.2) den „eigenbiographischen Raum“, den „visuellen“ und den „ausgedehnten Raum“. Leiden University, Jan SCHMIDT Nach einem kurzen Kapitel, welches die Eckdaten des 03-02-2015 Lebens und Werks Orhan Pamuks beinhaltet, führt die Ver- fasserin den/die Leser/in im Kapitel „Die Erinnerung an Orte“ in das Thema des Raummodells ein, wo die zwei * Raumkategorien der Autorin, der „eigenbiographische“ und * * der „ausgedehnte“ Raum vorgestellt werden. Ausgehend von einem Kapitel über die Geschichte Nișantașɪs und Istanbuls, wo eine Vielzahl an Quellen zur Stadtgeschichte zitiert wer- DUFFT, C.F. — Orhan Pamuks Istanbul. (Mîzân. Studien zur den, wird der biographische und literarische Raum Pamuks Literatur in der islamischen Welt, Band 14). Verlag Otto kontextualisiert. In zwei längeren Kapiteln (6, 7), welche den Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2008. (24 cm, XVI, 176). Hauptteil der Arbeit ausmachen, werden die zwei oben ISBN 978-3-447-05629-8. ISSN 0938-9024. € 34,-. genannten Raumkategorien anhand von Inhalt, Zeit und Raum definiert und analysiert. Das Gesamtwerk Pamuks „Wenn wir uns im Raum nicht verlieren wollen, müssen wird somit anhand von Gegensatzpaaren wie Innen/Außen, wir ihn uns aneignen, ihn markieren“ lautet das einleitende Ost/West, Tradition/Moderne auf verschiedenen Bedeutungs- Zitat von Karl Schlögel am Anfang des vorliegenden Buches. ebenen komparatistisch aufgearbeitet. In einem kurzen Fazit Nun kann man sich sowohl in Istanbul als auch in dem Werk wird die Bedeutung des Werks Pamuks als Balance zwischen Orhan Pamuks mit Leichtigkeit verlieren. Catharina Duffts „einer sehr persönlichen und einer universellen Darstellung Analyse des Werks des weltbekannten türkischen Schriftstel- der Stadt“ (166) für die „Erfahrbarkeit“ Istanbuls nochmals lers und Literaturnobelpreisträgers auf räumlicher Ebene, ist betont. nicht nur eine „roadmap“ zu einer innovativen wissenschaft- Nach der äußerst abwechslungsreichen Lektüre, die sich lichen Auseinandersetzung mit moderner türkischer Literatur auch durch die sorgfältige Auswahl der Zitate auszeichnet, im urbanen Kontext, die den Leser über Orts- und Zeitmar- sollen hier nun folgende Punkte, die den Argumentationskern kierungen durch die literarischen Topographie des Autors in den Kapiteln bilden, hervorgehoben und besprochen führt. Darüber hinaus dient es ebenso dazu, sich den literari- werden: schen ebenso wie den geschichtlichen Großstadtraumes Da die Verfasserin betont, dass es nicht möglich ist, eine anzueignen. So schreibt die Verfasserin, dass die Erschlie- klare Grenze zwischen autobiographischen und fiktiven ßung Istanbuls in Pamuks Werk dem „Versuch einer Erobe- Quellen zu ziehen (67), bauen die zentralen Argumente größ- rung“ (1) gleiche. Auf räumlicher Ebene ist der Fokus und tenteils auf einer Analyse des biographischen Raumes auf. Referenzpunkt ganz klar auf das Stadtviertel Nișantașɪ Sie schließt dabei immer vom „eigenbiographischen Raum“ beschränkt, wo Pamuk einen Teil seiner Kindheit verbrachte. des Autors auf die Gesamtrepräsentation von Istanbul im Dieser Ort wird von der Verfasserin als Viertel, das „das Werk und schreibt diesem eine „modellhafte Funktion“ neue Istanbul symbolisiert“ (78) und repräsentativ für die (163) zu. Anders als der „eigenbiographische Raum“ wird gesamte Stadt verstanden, wobei sie vorab betont, dass auch in Kapitel 7 der „ausgedehnte Raum“ auf Basis der unten andere Räume innerhalb der Türkei thematisiert werden. genannten Dichotomien auf räumlicher, zeitlicher und inhalt- Der Ausgangspunkt ist somit ein biographischer, wo sich licher Ebene untersucht. Auf dieser Basis wird ein fließender die Geschichte der Stadtentwicklung Istanbuls in der Lebens- Übergang zwischen der Geschichte der Stadtentwicklung zur geschichte Pamuks und der Entwicklung seines literarischen literarischen Repräsentation in Pamuks Werk aufgezeigt, Schaffens widerspiegelt und gleichzeitig manifestiert. Mei- oder wie Dufft schreibt, die „Verknüpfung zwischen kollek- nem Erachten nach stellt dies auch eine der Besonderheiten tiver Geschichte und persönlichem Schicksal“ (141). Somit dieser aufschlussreichen, wissenschaftlichen Arbeitsweise sind realer und fiktiver Raum zwei ineinandergreifende und dar, nämlich die literaturwissenschaftliche Analyse einerseits überlappende Begriffe, an deren Tangenten sich die Ausfüh- und die Illustration der urbanen Entwicklung Istanbuls im rungen der Verfasserin gekonnt bewegen. 21. Jahrhundert andererseits. Die Verbindung von Literatur und urbanem Raum erfolgt Dementsprechend verfügt das Buch auch über eine auf Basis festgelegter „werkbestimmender Dichotomien“ unglaubliche Vielfalt an bibliographischen Quellen, welche (Kapitel 6.5, 89), wie „Ost-West“, „Tradition-Moderne“, sowohl erste wichtige Standardwerke zu Urbanisierungspro- „Innen-Außen“ oder „alaturka“ und „alafranga“, welche zessen Istanbuls als auch fundamental bedeutende Quellen sich anhand der Entwicklung vom (osmanische Villa türkischer Literaturwissenschaft beinhalten. Als Primärquel- Konak ) zum (westliches Apartmenthaus) und der Ablö- len dienen der Verfasserin Pamuks Romane und Erzählungen Apartman sung der „traditionell religiösen Vergangenheit durch die sowie biographische Texte, wie seine Autobiographie, kemalistisch-westliche Gegenwart“ (68) oder dem Byzanti- diverse Interviews und Artikel. Die Verbindung zwischen nisch-Griechischem zum Osmanisch-Türkischem im literari- Stadtgeschichte, der Biographie des Autors und seinem schen Raum manifestieren. Der fließende Übergang von literarischem Werk ermöglicht die Formulierung und „eigenbiographischem Raum“ zum „ausgedehnten Raum“ wird dargestellt, ohne aufzuzeigen, inwieweit diese Dichoto- 2) For details, see website www.turkyahudileri.com. mien in oder durch Pamuks Werk kritisch dekonstruiert oder

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behandelt werden. Die Frage bleibt offen, was wir jenseits bereichert diesen durch neue Perspektiven auf zeitgenössi- dieser Gegensatzpaare über das Thema für Schlüsse ziehen sche türkische Literatur. Gleichzeitig bietet das Buch eine können, und eine Untersuchung, welche diese Konzepte kri- gute Basis für zukünftige komparatistische Analysen von tisch beleuchtet, wäre aufschlussreich. Literatur und Raum. Des Weiteren ist anzumerken, dass für die ausdifferen- zierte Entwicklung eigener Raumtheorien literaturwissen- Vienna, Lisa Maria TEICHMANN schaftliche Quellen zum Thema Raum zwar zitiert werden, University of Vienna, January 2015 jedoch nicht kritisch weitergedacht in Hinsicht ihrer Rele- vanz für die von der Verfasserin aufgestellten Raumkatego- rien. Die Verfasserin führt in den wissenschaftlichen Diskurs * der Raumtheorien für Literatur ein, stellt verschiedene The- * * orien vor, eine detaillierte Diskussion und Revision dieser Konzepte bleibt jedoch aus. Sie orientiert sich anstatt dessen an den oben genannten, in der Literaturwissenschaft altbe- KICKINGEREDER, D.F. — Celâl Esad Arseven. Ein Leben kannten Dichotomien. Es wird im letzten Kapitel jedoch zwischen Kunst, Politik und Wissenschaft. (Islamkund- betont, dass andere „türkeispezifische Antagonismen“ (162), liche Untersuchungen, 287). Klaus Schwarz Verlag, wie arm/reich, Land/Stadt und Peripherie/Zentrum, die klare Berlin, 2009. (23,5 cm, 141). ISBN 978-3-87997-359-0. Pluralisierung verkompliziert. ISSN 0939-1940. € 38,-. Zusätzlich illustriert die Verfasserin diese Raumkategorien in einer Analyse der Routen und „Gänge“ der Protagonisten Mit dem Ziel „die Biographie Celâl Esad Arsevens mög- und zeigt dabei die Vernetzung der einzelnen Stadtteile in lichst umfassend nachzuzeichnen“ (9) und einen Schwer- Pamuks Werk, dessen mikrokosmisches Zentrum Nișantașɪ punkt auf dessen intellektuelle Entwicklung zu setzen, über- darstellt, auf. Ihre theoretischen Ausführungen finden nimmt Dieter F. Kickingereder eine für den Biographen, wie Anwendung in den von ihr verwendeten Karten, wo die er schreibt, „nicht leichte Aufgabe“ (126). Nicht nur wegen Lauflinien eines Romanprotagonisten beispielsweise nachge- der geschichtspolitischen Begebenheiten, wie dem Wechsel zeichnet wurden. Für jeden der Romane wird ein Überblick vom Osmanischen Reich zur Republik Türkei, sondern auch über den Handlungsverlauf auf räumlicher Ebene in chrono- auf Grund der vielseitigen Beschäftigungen Celâl Esad Arse- logischer Reihenfolge nach Erscheinungsdatum gegeben und vens, die er während seiner Lebenszeit, die nahezu ein Jahr- in den Karten veranschaulicht. Das Gesamtwerk Pamuks hundert umfasste (1875-1971), ausübte, benötigt die biogra- wird somit auch visualisiert und komparatistisch reflektiert. phische Aufarbeitung eine Vielzahl an Quellen und Neu und einzigartig im Vergleich zu früheren literaturwis- Informationen. So wurden in dieser Arbeit Arsevens Memoi- senschaftliche Veröffentlichungen zu Pamuk ist hierbei die ren oder Erinnerungsschriften „Sanat ve Siyaset Hatɪralarɪm“ Verwendung von Karten, in denen die bedeutungstragenden (eine wörtliche Übersetzung wird von Kickingereder für die- fiktiven und biographischen Orte eingezeichnet sind, und sen Titel nicht gegeben. Meiner Übersetzung nach wäre es in welche zum „geographischen Überblick“ (105) einerseits etwa: „Meine Memoiren zu Kunst und Politik“), „Türk und zur Visualisierung der Perzeption Istanbuls im Werk resim sanatɪnda yetmiș yɪllɪk hayatɪm“ („Siebzig Jahre mei- andererseits dienen. Durch das Verhältnis von Stadtperzep- nes Lebens in der türkischen Kunst“, Übersetzung Kickinge- tion und Handlungsraum demonstriert die Verfasserin auf reders) und „Yɪldɪz Sarayɪ`ndan Mütareke`ye Kadar inspirierende Weise, wie mit Orten und Räumen in Literatur Hatɪralarɪm“ („Meine Erinnerungen von Yɪldɪz Sarayɪ bis gearbeitet werden, und wie eine mögliche Visualisierung zum Waffenstillstand“, Übersetzung Kickingereders) als Pri- aussehen kann. Dabei beschränkt sie sich jedoch auf einen märquellen herangezogen. Zusätzlich wurde der Nachruf urbanen Raum (Istanbul) und andere literarischen Topoi in Semavi Eyices eingearbeitet. Als „Gerüst“ dienen diese Pamuks Werk werden nur am Rande bzw. als Referenz- Quellen dem Verfasser dazu, Arsevens Leben als Offizier, punkte behandelt, z.B. im Falle der Gegenüberstellung des Intendant und Leiter des Palastorchesters, Beamte der Stadt- anatolischen oder Schwarzmeerküsten-Großraumes. Zudem verwaltung, Professor für Urbanistik und Architektur- sind die Karten meist nicht kontextualisiert, und es fehlt teils geschichte, Theaterautor, freischaffender Kunstmaler, Regis- die genaue Quellenangabe. seur, Photograph und Autor zahlreicher Bücher zum Thema In Duffts abwechslungsreicher Arbeit wird die Istanbul Kunstgeschichte zu rekonstruieren. Durch seine wichtige Topographie Pamuks, welche sich durch zentrale literarische politische Rolle ist seine Biographie als Zeitzeugnis und als Handlungsräume wie Nișantașɪ definiert, und die sich wie- Ego-Dokument interessant. Um ein umfangreiches Bild der derkehrend durch das ganze Werk ziehen, als Brücken zwi- Zeit Arsevens zu veranschaulichen, versucht der Verfasser schen „eigenbiographischem Raum“ und der Außenwelt die biographischen Daten mit den historischen Geschehnis- verstanden. Somit werden nicht nur neue raumtheoretische sen zu verweben. Da, wie in der Einleitung betont wird, die Ansätze vorgestellt, sondern auch Themen wie Armut in der geschichtlichen Informationen nur „als Hintergrundmaterial, Stadt, die Stadtgeschichte, der Wandel der politischen Strö- falls nötig, eingebracht werden“ (10), kann die vorliegende mungen und Multikulturalität thematisiert. Arbeit keine tiefgehende Aufarbeitung der historischen Der wünschenswerte nächste Schritt wäre, die Arbeit auch Ereignisse bieten. Der Verfasser richtet sein Augenmerk klar auf Englisch und Türkisch zugänglich zu machen. „Orhan auf die (auto)biographischen Ausführungen, welche durch Pamuks Istanbul“ kann als wichtiger Beitrag zur Sekundär- die historischen Eckdaten und wichtigsten Begebenheiten literatur zu Pamuks Werk gesehen werden und bietet neue, zusätzlich kontextualisiert werden. innovative Ansätze über literaturwissenschaftliche Auseinan- Am Anfang der Arbeit stellt der Verfasser die Frage, dersetzung und Konzepte von Raum. Es reiht sich somit in „inwieweit Autobiographien, Erinnerungen, Memoiren […] den wissenschaftlichen Diskurs des „spatial turn“ ein und sowohl als historische als auch als biographischeQuellen

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ausgeschöpft werden können, und sie aussagekräftig sind“ versucht werden soll […] Arsevens Lebensgeschichte als (11). Diese grundlegende Frage wird in den folgenden Kapi- ‚Geschichte seiner Bücher‘“ darzustellen (12). Auf Grund teln lediglich am Rande, anhand von Unregelmäßigkeiten in der dürftigen Angaben dazu, welche Bücher Arsevens intel- der Chronologie, behandelt. Am Ende kommt Kickingereder lektuelle Entwicklung beeinflussten, orientiert sich Kickin- zur Schlussfolgerung, dass „die von Arseven festgeschrie- gereder an seinem Werdegang, besonders in künstlerischer bene Chronologie zweifelhaft oder falsch“ sei „vor allem Hinsicht. So steht Arsevens Aktivität als Maler im Vorder- dann, wenn er sie in Zusammenhang mit historischen Ereig- grund, und erst im Schlussteil wird auf den sprachliche Stil nissen setzt“ (126). Auch wird nur ein Text von Werner und die inhaltlichen Besonderheiten der Memoiren kurz ein- Mahrholz, „Der Wert der Selbstbiographie als geschichtliche gegangen. So kommt der Verfasser zu dem Schluss, dass in Quelle“, herangezogen, und die Frage wird theoretisch, auf seinen Selbstzeugnissen „Persönliches nahezu vollständig die Biographieforschung bezogen, nicht näher diskutiert. ausgespart“ (124) ist, und auch wenig zum Thema der poli- Der Hauptteil der Arbeit widmet sich in zwei langen, chro- tischen Überzeugung Arsevens vorhanden ist. nologisch gegliederten Kapiteln der Verknüpfung der aus Somit ist die Anzahl an direkten Zitaten oder zitierten den Quellen ersichtlichen biographischen Informationen mit Passagen aus Arsevens Memoiren und Werk sehr begrenzt. dem historischen Kontext. So beschreibt Kapitel 2, welches Es wird jedoch genau auf die Beschreibung seiner Malereien, den Titel „Aus Liebe zur Malerei: Der Wunsch Maler zu Operetten und Filme und der Kunstwerke, die Arseven werden“ trägt, die Jahre 1875-1909 und beschäftigt sich mit beeinflussten, wie beispielsweise das Gemälde „Sortie de den Kindheits-und Jugendjahren Arsevens, seiner Ausbil- l’école turque“ von Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803- dung an diversen Schulen in Istanbul bis hin zu seiner Euro- 1860), eingegangen. Was noch anzumerken ist, ist, dass die pareise und seiner Zeit im Exil in Paris. Ausgehend von der Rezeption Arsevens Operetten, die teils in Wien uraufge- allgemeinen politischen Situation im späten osmanischen führt wurden, anhand von Textstellen aus diversen Wiener Reich, wird versucht, die geschichtlichen und gesellschaftli- Zeitungen von 1918 illustriert wird, was auch einen Ein- chen Hintergründe Arsevens Zeit zu beleuchten. Historisches druck darüber verschafft, wie Arseven in Europa Anklang und Biographisches stehen dabei oft in abgetrennten Paragra- fand. phen nebeneinander, wobei der Werdegang Arsevens im Folgendes möchte ich noch abschließend anmerken: Im Laufe des Kapitels immer mehr mit den geschichtlichen Buch bleibt eine genaue Erklärung der türkisch/osmanischen Informationen verwoben wird. Die Hintergrundinformatio- Begriffe, wie z.B. Konak, teils aus oder wird erst an einer nen geben dennoch einen guten Überblick über die politi- späteren Stelle im Text übersetzt und erläutert. Ferner sind schen und gesellschaftlichen Veränderungen in Arsevens für die Quellentitel, auch in der Bibliographie, größtenteils Zeit und das Ausmaß, in dem er selber auch Teil hatte, diese keine Übersetzungen vorhanden. Dadurch sind Titel oder mitzugestalten. Namen für jemanden ohne Türkischkenntnisse zum Teil Was diese Arbeit zudem sehr aufschlussreich macht, sind schwer verständlich. Auch beinhaltet das Buch leider keine die zahlreichen kurzen biographischen Angaben anderer Illustrationen oder Karten, welche die Reisewege, das künst- wichtiger Zeitgenossen Arsevens, wie z.B. Namɪk Kemâls lerische Schaffen und die historischen Entwicklungen besser und Ali Samis. So werden die Lücken, welche die Memoiren veranschaulichen hätten können. Es ist somit Aufgabe des teils aufweisen, auf gekonnte Weise gefüllt. Lesers, dem nachzugehen und eventuell sogar eine Ausstel- Während im zweiten großen Kapitel die Ausbildung und lung Arsevens zu besuchen. Das Buch verfügt nichtsdesto- die historischen Hintergründe im Vordergrund stehen, wird trotz über einen ausführlichen chronologischen Überblick in im dritten Kapitel „Berufsjahre und Lebensherbst: Die Jahre Form einer Liste mit den wichtigsten Daten zum Leben Arse- 1909-1971“ näher auf Arsevens Werk eingegangen. Von sei- vens, die jedoch keine separate Werkliste inkludiert. nem ersten Buch „Constantinople de Byzance à Stamboul“, Gelungen ist es dem Verfasser dennoch „aus dem vorhan- über seine Aktivität als Straßenmaler vor und nach dem ers- denen autobiographischen Material im Vergleich mit der zur ten Weltkrieg, sein Schaffen in Theater- und Filmproduktion Verfügung stehenden Sekundärliteratur und historischen bis hin zu seiner Tätigkeit als Lehrmeister in den verschie- Eckdaten eine plausible Lebensgeschichte Celâl Esad Arse- densten Fächern, gibt der Verfasser einen Einblick in das vens zu verfassen“ (126) und eine abwechslungsreiche, Schaffen dieses vielseitigen Mannes. Mit sehr amüsanten unterhaltsame Biographie zu schreiben, die dem Abenteuer- Anekdoten aus den Memoiren wird hier versucht einen chro- roman, dem Arsevens Memoiren nach Aussagen Kickinge- nologisch korrekten Verlauf seines Lebens und Schaffens in reders stellenweise ähnelt, entspricht. der Blüte seines Lebens darzustellen. Besonders die anekdo- Da, wie der Verfasser anmerkt, zur Person Celâl Esad tischen Passagen, wie Arseven seiner finanziellen Not mit Arseven bislang keine ausführliche Biographie zu existieren List begegnete und es schaffte, seine Bilder auf der Straße zu scheint, leistet diese Arbeit diesbezüglich einen beträchtli- verkaufen, um sich seinen Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen, bie- chen Beitrag zur Aufarbeitung. Ferner trägt sie dazu bei, den ten eine sehr abwechslungsreiche und belebte Lektüre. Bekanntheitsgrad dieses „Pionier der türkischen Kunstge- Wie auch im Schlussteil angemerkt, bleibt jedoch eine schichte“ (10), für den bis heute kein deutscher Wikipe- nähere Auseinandersetzung mit den Schriften Arsevens aus. dia-Eintrag existiert, auch im deutschsprachigen Raum anzu- Es sind allerdings teils umfangreiche Inhaltsangaben vorhan- heben. Seit der Veröffentlichung dieser Biographie im Jahre den, wodurch deutlich wird, mit welchen Themen sich Arse- 2009 kam es, meiner Kenntnis nach weder in Türkisch noch ven zu einem gegebenen Zeitpunkt in seinem Leben beschäf- in Deutsch zu einer so ausführlichen Behandlung dieses The- tigt hat. Im Sinne des Anspruches des Autors eine mas. Im Online-Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek „intellektuelle Biographie Arsevens nachzuzeichnen“ (10), scheint ausschließlich das hier rezensierte Buch auf, und in überwiegt meinem Erachten nach das Biographische gegen- der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek ist lediglich der über dem Intellektuellen. Der Verfasser betont dies auch in französische Text Arsevens „Les arts décoratifs turcs“ vor- seinem Vorwort, indem er schreibt, dass in der Arbeit „nicht handen. Man kann hoffen, dass Arbeiten wie die vorliegende

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auch zur Übersetzung der Texte Celâl Esads anregen, da der Großteil seiner Schriften nach wie vor nur auf Türkisch vor- handen ist.

Vienna, Lisa Maria TEICHMANN University of Vienna, January 2015

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