“I Stories†: Question of Subjectivity in Ottoman Travelogues, Sefaretname and Memoirs
Panel 090, 2009 Annual Meeting
On Sunday, November 22 at 4:30 pm
Panel Description
The immense scholarship on the question of subjectivity in the first-person narratives have largely been influenced by the epistemological parameters set by European genre studies, particularly that of the memoir, and by the examples deeply rooted in the Euro-American cultural landscapes. In consort with Orientalist approaches, the profound focus on the emphasized ‘I’, the authorial voice signifying the subjectivity and agency of the pen-holder that is characteristic of the Western memoir, created a paradigm of ‘lack’ of that voice when it comes to the study of pre or early modern narratives written in different genres such as travelogues, sefaretnames and histories even though these involve many 'I stories'. Following the track opened up by recent studies on the question of subjectivity in pre and early modern Ottoman narratives (Kafadar, Dankoff, Aksan), this panel proposes to attune our ears to some of these I-stories and explore not only the tension between the limitations the particular genres put on the expression and construction of self in these narratives, but also the possibilities they open up for expressing personal opinions, experiences, and feelings evincing deliberate and vibrant agency and subjectivity.
The first two papers in the panel focus on two prolific writers from the 17th century Istanbul, Evliya Celebi and Eremya Celebi (Komurcuyan) and investigate the question of ‘self’ in their writings. The travelogue, the genre in which Evliya recounts his experiences and observations regarding the different parts of the Ottoman Empire, has rarely been examined as a venue of subjectivity formation. Starting out from recent explorations of Evliya's narrative, the first paper examines the ways in which authors of travelogues open up a space for claiming authority, constructing and expressing a credible self and thread the fine lines between private, idiosyncratic ideas and the public, generalizable observations. Eremya Celebi, who experimented with multiple genres and was a prominent member of the Armenian millet, presents us with a fountain of information on the relationship of an individual with his confessional and ethnic community in 17th century Istanbul. As such the second paper not only explores Eremya’s subjectivity in his writings, but also his community’s subjectivity as expressed in his works and the tensions between the two. The third paper is a study of a sefaretname, an embassy report written by Ahmed Vasif Efendi in the 18th century. Approaching Ahmed Vasif’s narrative from a biographical point of view, it ventures into the exploration of Ottoman subjectivity in a genre that is traditionally seen as a quasi objective archival source regarding a community and a place, rather than as a source and venue for self expression. In teasing out nuances in the voice of the envoy reporting from another country, it discovers the agency of Ahmed Vasif and the ways in which his personal experiences and biography informs his report despite its deceptive genre-specific stylistic rigidity at first sight. The final paper brings us to the late Ottoman period and looks at another prolific writer, Yakup Kadri (Karaosmanoglu) who was born into an empire and died in a republic. The final paper concludes the participants’ exploration of subjectivity in Ottoman narratives by shedding light on the fact that these narratives exude not one, but multiple voices, which may contradict each other and as such are valuable sources of information to learn more about the subjective and experiential aspects of large social and political transformations such as the demise of an Empire and the birth of a nation state.
Disciplines
Participants
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Dr. Jane Hathaway
-- Discussant
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Ms. Asli Gur
-- Organizer, Chair
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Dr. Gottfried Hagen
-- Organizer
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Dr. Ethan L. Menchinger
-- Presenter
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Mr. Semi Ertan
-- Presenter
Presentations
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Mr. Semi Ertan
This paper is part of a larger project trying to explore the social and intellectual life of 17th century Istanbul, and the construction and subversion of communal boundaries through the life, literary production and autobiographical writings of Eremya Chelebi Komurcuyan of Istanbul (1637-1694). His works vary over a large span of genres from poetry to history, from religious pamphlets to his long diary and to polemical works against Jewish Messianism of the period. By situating the set of pieces he left within the larger social and intellectual web of networks, I intend to show how different subjectivities might have been formed in different confessional groups in the Ottoman society. The written works left by Eremya Chelebi Komurcuyan and his personality offer an excellent opportunity to come up with new questions and explore new terrains in the field of Ottoman studies.
As part of the 17th century Ottoman and Armenian intellectual elite, Eremya Chelebi, with his life and works, has hardly attracted sufficient attention in modern historiography. Leaving aside the reasons behind this lack of interest, we have valid reasons to call for attention to him. Firstly, he was a prolific author in Armenian and Ottoman languages, producing works in many different genres of literature (poetry on secular and religious themes, historical, geographical and calendrical writings, and translations into Armenian and Ottoman Turkish). Secondly, he maintained close connections with Armenian religious and lay circles, and Ottoman and European political elites of his period that might have provided him with an intellectual outlook far beyond the usual limitations of his time. The set of pieces at hand offers significant insights into the realities of the time concerning the functioning of the Ottoman political establishment, social life in Constantinople, Armenian community and the church life, relations between different communities in the Ottoman society and many other minor issues. Beyond the fruitfulness of this set of works in these aspects, I will be focusing on the construction of the ‘self ‘ in its relationship to the respective communities that helped to shape that ‘self’. I will, in particular, use his diary, personal letters and polemical works to find ways of getting at how the voice of the individual comes to being and how we can hear it with its connection to the larger world around it.
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Dr. Ethan L. Menchinger
Sefaretnâme, embassy reports, have frequently been used to view the reaction of individual Ottomans to contact with Europe. This approach usually bases the value of accounts on the author's “receptivity” to the host culture. (F. Göçek, 1987; Itzkowitz and Mote, 1970) Although written in first-person perspective, less often have sefaretnâme been seen as a potential source for biography more generally. This paper explores such a possibility by approaching the report of Ahmed Vâs?f Efendi, once called “a valuable lesson in the limitations of the genre,” (V. Aksan, 1995) as a case-study.
As official documents, sefaretnâme are highly formalized and often lack evaluative commentary. Most dwell on similar themes – physical and financial hardship, quarantine, reception by the host ruler, and ceremony and protocol – while the information offered is conditioned by audience and the embassy's purpose. (Aksan, 1995; Göçek, 1987; F. Unat, 1992) Given this, to what extent can one discern the personality behind the text? This paper suggests the very limitations inherent in sefaretnâme might also provide grounding from which to perceive tension between form and author. In the case of Vâs?f Efendi, I examine his choice of content within conventions of the genre and supplemented by external biographical information. Vâs?f's report seems highly conventionalized on first reading. Apart from certain passages offering personal reflection, however, I argue the text's prominent themes reflect how Vâs?f understood his charge, the impression he wished to give his readers, and perhaps also his personality. For example, Vâs?f's assertion of his own state's superiority has been dismissed as a lack of receptivity. Rather, I suggest emphasis on his personal dignity as the Sublime State's envoy and successful insistence on precedence in protocol may underline the situation of a man sent to Spain after a professional quarrel, removed from his post, and who wished to regain standing through his sefaretnâme. (Cevdet, 1854) Minute detailing of expenses also befits Vâs?f, known as avaricious, and whose death revealed large sums of gold coin brought from Spain. (As?m, 1870)
The small number of sefaretnâme admittedly limits the usefulness of this approach. Still, the case of Vâs?f serves to show that even highly conventional reports evince individuality and might at least supplement biographical study of their authors, offering new approaches to the exploration of this important genre of document.
