New Jersey Institute of Technology Digital Commons @ NJIT Dissertations Theses and Dissertations Fall 2013 Rationalizing everyday life in late nineteenth century Istanbul c. 1900 Ersin Altin New Jersey Institute of Technology Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/dissertations Part of the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons Recommended Citation Altin, Ersin, "Rationalizing everyday life in late nineteenth century Istanbul c. 1900" (2013). Dissertations. 137. https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/dissertations/137 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital Commons @ NJIT. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ NJIT. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Please Note: The author retains the copyright while the New Jersey Institute of Technology reserves the right to distribute this thesis or dissertation Printing note: If you do not wish to print this page, then select “Pages from: first page # to: last page #” on the print dialog screen The Van Houten library has removed some of the personal information and all signatures from the approval page and biographical sketches of theses and dissertations in order to protect the identity of NJIT graduates and faculty. ABSTRACT RATIONALIZING EVERYDAY LIFE IN LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ISTANBUL C.1900 by Ersin Altin This dissertation explores the rationalizing process of everyday life in late nineteenth century Istanbul, within the framework of the modernization agendas that swept the Ottoman Empire from the 1830s on. Starting with the period known as Tanzimat (literally ‘the reforms’), the study covers the Hamidian period (1876-1909), Second Constitutional Era (1908-1918) and first seven years of the Turkish Republic (1923-1930) noting the complexities of shifts and novelties by looking at daily practices and discourses, as well as the relationships between them. Within this historic framework, the main focus is the changing relationship between everyday objects and behavioral patterns of the Muslim middle class in the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, and consequently the “new life” that they aspired to. “New life,” which emerged as a concept in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, was charged with aims and high hopes and demands for social and cultural change. These notions were defined and developed in reference to “old” habits and lifestyles, whether real or imagined. Without distinguishing them categorically, the dissertation analyzes two sets of intertwined transformations: in the self-identification of Ottoman intellectuals and citizens and in the practical realities of daily life. RATIONALIZING EVERYDAY LIFE IN LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY ISTANBUL C. 1900 by Ersin Altin A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey – Newark in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Systems January 2014 Copyright © 2014 by Ersin Altin ALL RIGHTS RESERVED . APPROVAL PAGE RATIONALIZING EVERYDAY LIFE IN LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ISTANBUL C.1900 Ersin Altin Dr. Zeynep Celik, Dissertation Advisor 12/02/2013 Distinguished Professor of Architecture, NJIT Dr. Eva Giloi, Committee Member 12/02/2013 Associate Professor of History Department, Rutgers University Dr. Stephen Pemberton, Committee Member 12/02/2013 Associate Professor of Federated Department of History, NJIT Dr. Nukhet Varlik, Committee Member 12/02/2013 Assistant Professor of History Department, Rutgers University BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Author: Ersin Altin Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Date: January 2014 Undergraduate and Graduate Education: • Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Systems, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 2014 • Master of Architecture, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2003 • Bachelor of Architecture, Andl Unvrt, Eşhr, r, Major: Urban Systems Presentations and Publications: Ersin Altin, “Turkish Pavillion at 1939 New York World Fair,” Sdd ı Eld II. İtnbl: Onl n Arşv v Arştr Mrz, 200. Ersin Altin, “Anarchy,” in Becoming Istanbul: An Encyclopedia , Garanti Gallery and Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), 2008, 16. Ersin Altin, “Minority,” in Becoming Istanbul: An Encyclopedia , Garanti Gallery and Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), 2008, 181-182. Ersin Altin, “Neighborhood,” in Becoming Istanbul: An Encyclopedia, Garanti Gallery and Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), 2008, 196-197. iv To Burçak and Ada v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 INTRODUCTION……............................………………..…………………………. 1 1.1 Overview, Objectives and Outline……………………………………………... 1 1.1.1 Description …………………………………………………………….... 1 1.1.2 Approach and Content…………………………………………..…….... 4 1.2 Historical Context……..…………….…………………………….……….…... 9 1.2.1 General Framework ………………………………………………….... 9 1.2.2 New Discourse……...………………………………………………….... 12 1.3 Sources………..…………….…………………..………………………….…... 15 1.4 Literature Survey…..…………….…………………………………….…... 18 2 REGULATING DAILY LIFE ……………………………………………………... 25 2.1 Introduction ………………………...………………………………………….. 25 2.1.1 Teaching the Proper …………………………………………..……….... 25 2.2 Proper Use of Time ………………………………..…………………………. 31 2.2.1 Timetabling the Education…………………………………….……….... 35 2.2.2 Timetabling the Family House…………………………………...…….... 39 2.3 Proper Use of Space ……………………………...……………………………. 43 2.3.1 Proper Use of Urban Space…………………………………………….... 43 2.3.2 Proper Use of Domestic Space ………………….…………………….... 46 2.4 Conclusion ……………………………...………………………...……………. 49 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page 3 HAPPY MODERN BODIES ……………………………………………………… 50 3.1 Fitting in the World: Body and Exercise…...………………………………...… 51 3.1.1 Teaching Calisthenics………………………………………………….... 57 3.1.2 Child’s Play…………………………………………………………….... 62 3.1.3 Youth Clubs of İttihad Terakki and Sturdy Kids of the Republic……...... 66 3.2 Body Retouched..……………………………………………………..……….... 70 3.2.1 Supplements to Modern World……………………………...………….... 72 3.2.2 Packaging the Products……...………………………………………….... 80 3.3 Mission: Hygiene……....…………………………….……………………….... 83 3.3.1 A Place for Cleaning ……………………………………..…………….... 87 3.3.2 Cleaning for Health……...………………………………..…………….... 89 4 NEW HOME FOR NEW LIFE……………………………………………………... 95 4.1 Exercising at Home…………………………………………..………….…...… 98 4.2 Uplifting the Domestic Space……………………….……….…………….….. 109 4.2.1 The Changing Interior…………………………………..……...……….... 110 4.2.2 Changing Practices……...………………………………..…………….... 122 4.2.3 Domesticizing Women Labor…………………………..…...………….... 129 4.2.4 Leisurely Lady’s Leisure……...………………………..…...………….... 132 4.2.5 Sewing Machine…………………………….…………..……...……….... 134 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page 4.3 A Healthy Home …………………………………….……………………..….. 142 4.3.1 A Healthy Home for a Healthy Body…………………..…………...….... 144 4.3.2 A Knowledgeable Woman or Educating Housewives …..………….….... 148 4.3.3 Rationalizing Housework or Science of Tidiness ………..…………….... 151 4.3.4 Hygienic Architecture…...………………………………..…………….... 156 5 OPERATION: CITY………………….……………………………………..……... 160 5.1 Working Out: Exercise and the City.……………………………...…............…. 161 5.1.1 Surgeon’s Knife…………………………………………..…………….... 163 5.1.2 Parks for Health …..………………………………………...………….... 168 5.1.3 New Activities for Parks ………..…………………………………..….... 173 5.1.4 Sea Baths…...……………………………………………..…………….... 178 5.1.5 Institutionalizing Exercise…………………..………………………….... 183 5.2 Re-inventing the Outside: City and Products………..……………………...….. 186 5.2.1 Illuminated Interiors…………………..……………………………..….... 189 5.2.2 Shopping as Leisure …..……………......................................................... 194 5.2.3 Posters/Ads………..………………………………………………..…..... 201 5.3 Total Clean-out: City and Hygiene …………………………………….….…... 205 5.3.1 Municipality as Systemic Rehabilitation………….……..……………..... 207 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page 5.3.2 Institutionalizing Cleaning and Garbage Collection……..……………..... 209 5.3.3 Germ and the City…..……………………………………………….….... 215 5.3.4 Promoting Modern Medicine……………………...…..…………….….... 219 6 CONCLUSION .…………….……………………………………………………... 223 APPENDIX ADDITIONAL LITERATURE SOURCES……………………………... 227 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………... 228 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Advertisemnt of Selvaciyan watch store. “Never be without a watch.”………… 33 2.2 Dolmabahçe clock tower………………..……...………..………………………. 34 2.3 Illustration of time measuring devices in a textbook.…....………………………. 36 2.4 Cehdi plays with his toy horse in his bedroom he shares with his sister Hikmet. The kids sleep in their hygienic beds with metal frames, a night lamp places appropriately between