Manners and Identity in Late Seventeenth Century Istanbul
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MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL SAYGIN SALGIRLI FEBRUARY 2003 MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF SABANCI UNIVERSITY BY SAYGIN SALGIRLI IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY FEBRUARY 2003 Approval of the Institute of Social Sciences _______________ Professor Muhittin Oral Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Art. _______________ Professor Ahmet Alkan Dean This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________ Assistant Professor Ahmet Ersoy Supervisor Examining Committee Members Associate Professor Tülay Artan _______________ Assistant Professor Hülya Canbakal _______________ © Saygın Salgırlı All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL Saygın Salgırlı M.A., History Supervisor: Assistant Professor Ahmet Ersoy February 2003 The following is a thesis on how manners contributed to the construction and maintenance of a male, urbanite identity in late seventeenth century Istanbul. The main theme being that, the arguments are based upon and derived from two main theories or perspectives. These are, first the history of manners literature and secondly theories of identity construction and politics of identity. Within the latter group, a special emphasis is given to manhood and masculinity studies. The three main primary sources used are Meva ‘Idü’n-Nefais Fi-Kava ‘Idi’l-Mecalis by Gelibolulu Mustafa ‘Ali, a seventeenth century “book of curses” (or beddua albümü ) by a certain Hacı Ahmed, written in Yanya (Ioannina); and a second, but this time anonymous, book of curses from the Istanbul of late seventeenth century ( Risale-i Garibe as published by Hayati Develi in 1998). The main argument posed is that from the seventeenth century onwards, the elite strata of Ottoman society experienced increasing penetrations from the newly rich classes and this led to the emergence of the book of curses genre as an aggressive and reactionary literature. Correspondingly, “admission” to the elite culture, and survival within it, depended upon compliance to proper manners. However, due to the changing nature of this elite culture, the concern of the books of curses expanded to include people from all walks of life, and therefore, when Risale-i Garibe is concerned, almost all of Istanbul. ÖZ / ÖZET GEÇ ONYED NC YÜZYIL STANBUL’UNDA ADAPLAR VE K ML K Saygın Salgırlı Yüksek Lisans, Tarih Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Ahmet Ersoy ubat 2003 Ekteki tez, adapların geç onyedinci yüzyıl stanbul’unda ehirli erkek kimli inin olu turulması ve korunması a amalarındaki katkısı üzerine bir çalı madır. Bu nedenle iki temel teori ya da görü üzerine kurulmu tur. Bunları, öncelikle adap tarihi literatürü ve ardından kimlik olu turumu ve siyaseti teorileri olarak sıralayabiliriz. kinci grup içinde özellikle erkek kimli i çalı maları üzerinde durulmu tur. Kullanılan temel birincil kaynaklar sırasıyla Gelibolulu Mustafa ‘Ali’nin Meva ‘Idü’n-Nefais Fi-Kava ‘Idi’l- Mecalis ’i, Hacı Ahmed tarafından Yanya’da yazılmı bir onyedinci yüzyıl beddua albümü ve geç onyedinci yüzyıl stanbul’undan, bu sefer anonim, bir ba ka beddua albümüdür; ki bu 1998 yılında Hayati Develi tarafından Risale-i Garibe adıyla basılmı tır. Tezin temel argümanı, onyedinci yüzyıldan itibaren Osmanlı toplumunun elit kesimlerinin yeni zenginle en zümrelerin gittikçe artan oranda katılımına maruz kaldı ı ve beddua albümü literatürünün bu çerçevede saldırgan ve tepkisel bir tür olarak ortaya çıktı ıdır. Bu ba lamda, elit kültürüne dahil olabilme ve bu kültür içinde tutunabilme adaplara ne kadar uyuldu una ba lı hale gelmi tir. Ancak elit kültürünün de ien do ası itibariyle beddua albümleri hayatın her kesiminden insan gruplarını ve dolayısıyla, Risale-i Garibe söz konusu oldu unda, neredeyse tüm stanbul’u kapsamaktadırlar. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would liked to thank my thesis supervisor Ahmet Ersoy for supporting me throughout my research, and helping me develop my thesis from an entirely different project into its current form. I am also grateful to my jurors Hülya Canbakal and Tülay Artan who have been of great help, and whose advices contributed a lot to the shaping of this thesis. Although he was not an active party in this thesis project, a special thanks goes to Halil Berktay, who supported me throughout my studies at the Sabancı University M.A. program in history. Finally, I would like to thank all my colleagues and friends who made my graduate life a pleasing experience. i TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1-2 1. A Problem of Definition: The Ottomans, The Elites and The Commoners ….. 2-5 2. A Problem of Identification: Regions, Nations and Identities ……………….. 5-8 3. Empire Building and Ideology ……………………………………………….. 8-11 4. Identity Construction, Others and Ottomanization …………………………… 11-15 5. Courtesy, Manners and Identity ……………………………………………… 15-18 6. Sources and Problems ………………………………………………………... 18-22 CHAPTER 1: MANNERS FOR WHOM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SOURCE … 23-26 1. Geography and Chronology …………………………………………………... 26-31 2. The Author ……………………………………………………………………. 31-39 3. The Audience …………………………………………………………………. 39-43 CHAPTER 2: A CHANGING KIBAR CULTURE? ……………………………. 44-46 1. A Possible Continuity: Risale-i Garibe, Makale-i Garibe and Meva ‘Idü’n – Nefais Fi Kava ‘Idi’l – Mecalis ……………………………………………………………. 46-57 2. A Possible Change: Risale-i Garibe and Makale-i Garibe ……………………. 57-66 CHAPTER 3: BEING A MAN IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL ……………………………………………………………………………………… 67-85 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………… 86-88 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………. 89-92 ii MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL SAYGIN SALGIRLI FEBRUARY 2003 MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF SABANCI UNIVERSITY BY SAYGIN SALGIRLI IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY FEBRUARY 2003 Approval of the Institute of Social Sciences _______________ Professor Muhittin Oral Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Art. _______________ Professor Ahmet Alkan Dean This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________ Assistant Professor Ahmet Ersoy Supervisor Examining Committee Members Associate Professor Tülay Artan _______________ Assistant Professor Hülya Canbakal _______________ © Saygın Salgırlı All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT MANNERS AND IDENTITY IN LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL Saygın Salgırlı M.A., History Supervisor: Assistant Professor Ahmet Ersoy February 2003 The following is a thesis on how manners contributed to the construction and maintenance of a male, urbanite identity in late seventeenth century Istanbul. The main theme being that, the arguments are based upon and derived from two main theories or perspectives. These are, first the history of manners literature and secondly theories of identity construction and politics of identity. Within the latter group, a special emphasis is given to manhood and masculinity studies. The three main primary sources used are Meva ‘Idü’n-Nefais Fi-Kava ‘Idi’l-Mecalis by Gelibolulu Mustafa ‘Ali, a seventeenth century “book of curses” (or beddua albümü ) by a certain Hacı Ahmed, written in Yanya (Ioannina); and a second, but this time anonymous, book of curses from the Istanbul of late seventeenth century ( Risale-i Garibe as published by Hayati Develi in 1998). The main argument posed is that from the seventeenth century onwards, the elite strata of Ottoman society experienced increasing penetrations from the newly rich classes and this led to the emergence of the book of curses genre as an aggressive and reactionary literature. Correspondingly, “admission” to the elite culture, and survival within it, depended upon compliance to proper manners. However, due to the changing nature of this elite culture, the concern of the books of curses expanded to include people from all walks of life, and therefore, when Risale-i Garibe is concerned, almost all of Istanbul. ÖZ / ÖZET GEÇ ONYED NC YÜZYIL STANBUL’UNDA ADAPLAR VE K ML K Saygın Salgırlı Yüksek Lisans, Tarih Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Ahmet Ersoy ubat 2003 Ekteki tez, adapların geç onyedinci yüzyıl stanbul’unda ehirli erkek kimli inin olu turulması ve korunması a amalarındaki katkısı üzerine bir çalı madır. Bu nedenle iki temel teori ya da görü üzerine kurulmu tur. Bunları, öncelikle adap tarihi literatürü ve ardından kimlik olu turumu ve siyaseti teorileri olarak sıralayabiliriz. kinci grup içinde özellikle erkek kimli i çalı maları üzerinde durulmu tur. Kullanılan temel birincil kaynaklar sırasıyla Gelibolulu Mustafa ‘Ali’nin Meva ‘Idü’n-Nefais Fi-Kava ‘Idi’l- Mecalis ’i, Hacı Ahmed tarafından Yanya’da yazılmı bir onyedinci yüzyıl beddua albümü ve geç onyedinci yüzyıl stanbul’undan, bu sefer anonim, bir ba ka beddua albümüdür; ki bu 1998 yılında Hayati Develi tarafından Risale-i Garibe adıyla basılmı tır. Tezin temel argümanı, onyedinci yüzyıldan itibaren Osmanlı toplumunun elit kesimlerinin yeni zenginle