The Late Ottoman Empire and Balkan Nationalism: The View from Istanbul
Level:
Master's CEU credits:
4 ECTS credits:
8 Academic year:
2009/2010 Semester:
Winter Start and end dates:
10 Jan 2011 - 1 Apr 2011 Co-hosting Unit(s) [if applicable]:
Stream/Track/Specialization/Core Area:
Ethnicity, Nations, Nationalism and Empires in History CEU Instructor(s):
Selim Deringil Additional information:
The usual plan for the study of Albanian, Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Macedonian nationalisms is to give primary agency to the ‘dynamic forces’ of the various nationalist movements, and cast the Ottoman state and people as a sort of ‘vicious wallpaper’, a backdrop that could be relied upon to provide the requisite props of repression, massacre, forced marches, religious obscurantism and diplomatic obfuscation. No doubt the Ottoman Empire did indulge in all of the above, but the story of the ‘Long Nineteenth Century` in the Ottoman or ex-Ottoman Balkans is much more complicated. The story is indeed the story of a relationship that actually continues to this day. Learning Outcomes:
The course will be designed to bring in the latest literature in Turkish and other languages that can shed a new light on the comparative history of nationalism in the Balkans. Assuming that non- Turkish students will not be familiar with publications in that language, lectures and class notes comprising translations will be provided in English . There will be an emphasis on recent publications. Students will be encouraged to make written and oral contributions based on sources in their respective languages The critical factor in the approach will be to factor in Ottoman power as an active and participatory agent; winning and losing, repressing but also being repressed, exiled and exiling, but always present . The aim is by no means to “rehabilitate” the Ottoman Empire but rather to historicize the power relationships in the Ottoman context. For this year (2010) I have added some materials from my recently completed manuscript, Of their Own Free Will and Desire; Conversion and Apostasy in the Late Ottoman Empire. Assessment :
The students will be expected to do regular reading and evaluation of reading materials. Each student will be expected to make at least one presentation and later submit it as a paper. The course is designed as a seminar format therefore class participation and discussions are emphasized. Students will be encouraged to come up with reading materials in their respective languages that can contribute to the general debate and their written work. Full description:
Themes
Centre and Periphery. The relationship of " locality`` and the Sublime Porte. Power is a relationship not a possession.
Reform: internal or external stimulus? Was the project of "Ottomanism" bankrupt at its outset?
War and Exile. Muslim exodus from the Balkans and Crete. Population exhanges.
Religion and Nationalism, the interplay. The relationship of Orthodoxy and Nationalism.
Locating the Ottoman Empire in the general comparative study of empires.
Week One: The Balkans as an Ottoman Concept. The Balkans or Rumeli in the Ottoman Imagination. Contextualizing the Ottoman state as a Balkan state.
Readings:
Ilber Ortayli, Imparatorlugun en Uzun Yuzyili (The Longest Century of the Empire) (Translated passages in lecture notes). (4pgs) [
pdf]
Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Tezakir ( Memoranda, Translated extracts in class notes) . (4pgs) [pdf]
Fikret Adanir, Suraiya Faroghi , “Introduction” in, The Ottomans and the Balkans, A Discussion of Historiography. (Leiden 2002) pp 1-57. [pdf]
Mark Mazower, The Balkans “Before the Nation” pp 45-78. [pdf]
Week Two: The Tanzimat as a Balkan Project.
Readings:
Selim Deringil, “Conversion and Citizenship; avoiding the ‘Imperial Headache’. ” [pdf]
Chapters from unpublished manuscript. , ‘Of Their Own Free Will and Desire.’Conversion and Apostasy in the Late Ottoman Empire. (Forthcoming 2010). [pdf]
Selim Deringil, “Crypto Christianity in the Late Ottoman Empire” [pdf]
Week Three: The Idea of Nationalism, was it a ‘transplanted concept’ ? How were the ideas of the European Enlightenment transposed into the region that later became the Balkans?
The Turkish relationship with “Europe” through the centuries. Ethnic stereotyping on the part of the centre.
Readings:
Paschalis Kitromilides, “War and Political Consciousness. Theoretical implications of Eighteenth Century Greek Historiography” in, Paschalis Kitromilides, Enlightenment, Nationalism, Orthodoxy (Variorum Reprints 1994) [pdf]
Christine Philliou, "Communities on theVerge: Unraveling the Phanariot Ascendancy in Ottoman Governance" [pdf]
Milen V. Petrov: Everyday Forms of Complience [pdf]
Isa Blumi: Teaching Loyalty in the Late Ottoman Balkans [pdf]
Optional:
Hakan Erdem, “Do not think of the Greeks as agricultural labourers”. Ottoman responses to the Greek War of Independence”. In Faruk Birtek and Thalia Dragonas, (Eds.) Citizenship and the Nation State in Greece and Turkey, London 2005 . [pdf]
Faruk Birtek, “Greek Bull in the China Shop of the Ottoman Grand Illusion” in Faruk Birtek and Thalia Dragonas, Citizenship amd the Nation State in Greece and Turkey. [pdf]
Week Four: The idea of reform as an Ottoman concept. Was it a case of ‘too little too late’? How sincere was the project of Ottomanism? How far were the ideas of the Tanzimat Reforms internalized by the Ottoman state? The Ottoman experiment with parliamentary and constitutional government.
Readings:
Sukru Hanioglu, “The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Kurdish Question” Zaman newspaper op. ed. Piece November 22,23 2007. (My translation will be provided) [pdf]
Halil Inalcik, Tanzimat ve Bulgar Meselesi . (The Tanzimat and the Bulgarian Question). [pdf]
Translated extracts.Cengiz Kırlı, Balkan Nationalisms and the Ottoman Empire: views from the Istanbul Streets” in Ottoman Rule in the Balkans.[pdf]
Week Five. The Muslim Balkans. Local religion or religion of the occupier?
Readings:
Antonina Zhelyazkova, “Islamization in the Balkans as a Historiographical Problem: the Southeast European Perspective”. In Adanir and Faroqhi , The Ottomans and the Balkans. [pdf]
Selim Deringil, “There is no Compulsion in Religion. Conversion and Apostasy in the Late Ottoman Empire”. Comparative Studies in Society and History (2001) [pdf]
Justin McCarthy, Death and Exile chapter 1. [pdf] and chapter 3. [pdf]
Fikret Adanir, “The formation of a ‘Muslim’ nation in Bosnia : a Historiographic discussion.” In Adanir and Faroghi, The Ottomans and the Balkans. [pdf]
Week Six
New Directions in Ottoman Studies. Women in the Ottoman Balkans.
Readings:
Cemal Kafadar, “Ben ve Baskalari. On yedinci yuzyil Istanbul`unda bir Dervisin Guncesi ve Osmanli Edebiyatinda Birinci Agizdan Anlatilar.” ( The Diary of a Dervish in Seventeenth Century Istanbul. First hand narratives in Ottoman Literature) [pdf]
In Cemal Kafadar, Kim var imis Biz Burada Yog iken. Dort Osmanli: Yeniceri, Tuccar, Dervis ve Hatun.( “Who was Here while We were Not here”. Four Ottomans: a Janissary, a Merchant, a Dervish and a Lady). (Istanbul 2009). (Translated excerpts and summaries to be provided)
Cemal Kafadar, “Mutereddit bir Mutasavvif. Uskuplu Asiye Hatun’un Ruya Defteri”. (A hesitant Sufi. The Dream Diary of Lady Asiye from Scopje) (Translated excerpts and summaries to be provided). ( In above volume). [pdf]
Irvin Cemil Shick’ “Christian Maidens, Turkish Ravishers: the Sexualization of National Conflict in the Late Ottoman Period”. In Amila Buturovic and Irvin Cemil Schick, (eds)Women in the Ottoman Balkans. Gender, Culture and History. (New York and London 2007).[pdf]
Justin McCarthy, Death and Exile chapter 8. [pdf]
Chronology [pdf]
Glossary [pdf]
