CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Istanbul Sehir University Repository FATMA ALIYE’S DISCOURSE OF WOMAN IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ISLAMIC MODERNIZATION AND TRADITION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES OF İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY BY İLKNUR BAHADIR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN CULTURAL STUDIES AUGUST 2018 ABSTRACT FATMA ALİYE’S DISCOURSE OF WOMAN IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ISLAMIC MODERNIZATION AND TRADITION Bahadır, İlknur MA in Cultural Studies Thesis Advisor: Assist. Prof. Mehmet Fatih Uslu August 2018, 103 pages Many discussions related to the women that Fatma Aliye deals with in her works contain lots of Islamic references. This situation laid the foundation for her being considered as an Islamist. In addition, it has been argued that she is a feminist because of she expresses women’s behind social position comparing to men. In this thesis, Fatma Aliye, Islam and the issue of women have studied together with the experience of modernization in Islam. The idea that Fatma Aliye has a more synthetic place beyond both identities is the focal point of the thesis. It is aimed to point to the difficulties of labelling Fatma Aliye as a feminist or Islamist in view of historical and sociological conditions. First of all, the story of Fatma Aliye's life is briefly mentioned. Secondly, the attitude of the empire and the Fatma Aliye in the context of modernization, encounter with the West and Orientalism has examined. Fatma Aliye's female narrative is similar to the nationalist female narrative that the empire has had in the context of authoritarian modernization. Fatma Aliye is reestablishing in matters such as education, motherhood role and work on a different ground, without questioning the patriarchal social structure as the bureaucrats of Tanzimat. However, in spite of similarities, Fatma Aliye distinguished from the Tanzimat bureaucrats because of she foregrounded the individuality of the woman. Due to this difference in meaning, considered worthy to iv examine in terms of modernization in this thesis. Later, conceived the issues are marriage, polygamy, concubinage and divorce which Fatma Aliye sees the root of her contemporary women’s problem in Islamic tradition based. In order to be able to compare with the narration of Fatma Aliye, other relevant intellectuals of the period were included in terms of 19th century Islamic modernization process on these mentioned subjects. And finally, the views of Fatma Aliye about the aforementioned issues as marriage, divorce and polygamy examined. Key Words: Islam, Woman, Fatma Aliye, Turkish Modernisation, Islamic Tradition v vi ÖZ İSLAM’DA MODERNLEŞME VE GELENEK BAĞLAMINDA FATMA ALİYE’NİN KADIN ANLATISI Bahadır, İlknur Kültürel Çalışmalar Yüksek Lisans Programı Tez Danışmanı: Mehmet Fatih Uslu Ağustos 2018, 103 Sayfa Fatma Aliye’nin eserlerinde ele aldığı kadınlarla alakalı birçok tartışma ciddi biçimde İslami referanslar içerir. Bu durum onun İslamcı olarak düşünülmesine zemin hazırlamıştır. Bunun yanı sıra, eserlerinde kadınların yaşadıkları sıkıntıları sıklıkla dile getirmesi, toplumsal hayatta erkeklerin sahip olduğu haklara kadınların da sahip olması gibi durumları savunmasından ötürü feminist olabileceği ileri sürülmüştür. Bu tezde Fatma Aliye, İslam ve kadın meselesi İslam’da modernleşme tecrübesiyle birlikte incelenmiştir. Fatma Aliye’nin her iki kimliğin de ötesinde daha sentetik bir yerde konumlandığı fikri tezin odak noktasıdır. Tarihsel ve sosyolojik koşullar göz önünde bulundurularak Fatma Aliye’yi feminist ya da İslamcı olarak adlandırmanın zorluklarına işaret etmek amaçlanmıştır. İlk bölümde Fatma Aliye’nin hayat hikayesine yer verilmiştir. İkinci bölümde, modernleşme, Batıyla karşılaşma ve Oryantalizm bağlamında İmparatorluğun ve Fatma Aliye’nin tutumu incelenmiştir. Fatma Aliye’nin kadın anlatısı ile İmparatorluğun otoriter modernleşme bağlamında hayata geçirdiği ulusalcı kadın anlatısı birbirine benzemektedir. Fatma Aliye kadınların eğitimi, annelik rolü ve çalışması gibi konularda Tanzimat bürokratları gibi ataerkil yapıyı sorgulamadan onu farklı bir zeminde tekrar kurmaktadır. Ancak benzerliklere rağmen, Fatma Aliye’nin anlatısında kadının bireyselliğini ön plana çıkaran noktaların olması Fatma Aliye’yi Tanzimat vii bürokratlarından ayırmıştır. Anlatısındaki bu farklılık sebebiyle bu tezde modernleşme bağlamında incelenmeye değer görülmüştür. Son bölümde ise, Fatma Aliye’nin dönemindeki kadınların dezavantajlı pozisyonundan dolayı suçlu gördüğü İslam geleneğinde evlilik, çok eşlilik, cariyelik ve boşanma gibi konulara değinilmiştir. Fatma Aliye’nin anlatısı ile karşılaştırma yapabilmek amacıyla dönemin diğer entelektüellerinin bu meselelerle alakalı görüşlerine 19.yy İslam’da modernleşme faaliyetleri çerçevesinde yer verilmiştir. Ve son olarak Fatma Aliye’nin evlilik, boşanma, çok eşlilik gibi bahsi geçen meseleler etrafındaki görüşleri incelenmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: İslam, Kadın, Fatma Aliye, Türk Modernleşmesi, İslam Geleneği viii ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to my supervisor Assist. Prof. Mehmet Fatih Uslu for his endless support. He motivated and helped me forgivingly throughout the thesis. I am much obliged about what he taught me in so many fields. Despite writing process was extremely exhausting and stressful, being a student of him was incredibly pleasant and instructive process. This thesis would not be accomplished without his guidance. I am grateful to my patient father, amazing mother and lovely sister for their understanding. They always supported me psychologically and relieved me during the thesis process. My profound gratitude goes to them. I also present my thanks to the thesis committee, Assoc. Prof Fatih Altuğ and Assoc. Prof. Kadir Gömbeyaz, for their inspring contributions and valuable comments. I am grateful to Fatih Altuğ his inspring suggestions about my future studies concerning women’s literature. Kadir Gömbeyaz always supported me in terms of my academic interests and he encouraged me to dream more, from the beginning of my undergraduate years. My dear friends İslim Gümüştekin and Neslihan Mervenur Vural provided me a warm environment and supported me with prays. I would like to thank them for emotional support. I also want to thank my friends Gizem İdrisoğlu Dursun and Ali Emin Karagöz from Şehir University for promising comments, supports and great contributions. I also want to thank Elif Gündüz, Büşra Yıldırım and Sümeyye Şahin for encouraging me. Also I would like to state my special thanks to Tuba Işık who motivated, supported and helped me for many years. x Lastly, I am grateful to Şehir University for supporting my academic interest with great equipment and peaceful environment. xi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................... Hata! Yer işareti tanımlanmamış.iv ÖZ ..................................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... x TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ xii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 2. “EYE ON THE STRUGGLE”: THE STORY OF FATMA ALİYE ............................................. 13 2.1. The Seeds of Growth: The Family and Cultural Background (1862-1889) ............ 15 2.2 The Active Authoring Years (1889-1914) ............................................................... 20 2.2.1 Fatma Aliye and Ahmet Midhat Efendi ............................................................ 20 2.2.2. Fatma Aliye as a Novelist ................................................................................ 24 2.2.3. Fatma Aliye: A Path-Breaking Woman, Intellectual, Writer, and Philosopher .................................................................................................................................. 31 2.3. The Regression Years (1914-1936) ........................................................................ 33 3. ENCOUNTERING THE WEST AND FATMA ALIYE'S WOMAN NARRATIVE IN THAT CONTEXT .......................................................................................................................... 37 3.1. Women, Nation, and State: The Emancipitation of the Women in Fatma Aliye .. 39 3.2. Ottoman Modernization and Islamist Discourse .................................................. 39 3.3. Woman Question and Fatma Aliye's General Point of View ................................. 44 3.3.1. Women's Education ........................................................................................ 48 3.3.2. Motherhood Role............................................................................................ 52 3.3.3. Employment of Women .................................................................................. 57 3.4. Fatma Aliye’s Orientalism Critics ........................................................................... 59 4. READING FATMA ALIYE REGARDING ISLAM CENTERED WOMEN DISCUSSION .......... 65 4.1. The Narrative that Men are Superior to Women and Conditions That Determine the Visibility of the Woman .........................................................................................