[Discussion] Re-thinking Culture in the Ottoman 18th Century

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

From: Dana Sajdi <dsajdi@alcor.concordia.ca>

Rethinking Culture in the Ottoman 18th Century
January 15-16, 2005, Princeton University.

Recent research has effected a cumulative revision of the long dominant
"decline thesis" and has created an increasing awareness of the extent
to which the Ottoman 18th century was a period characterized by newness
and change. These findings point to the need to move on to a re-
conceptualization of the Ottoman 18th century that posits the period
in new and analytically helpful terms. Thus, the aim of this Mellon
funded conference, "Rethinking Culture in the Ottoman 18th Century",
to be held at Princeton University on 15 and 16 January, 2005, is
charting and understanding change in patterns of cultural production
and consumption in the Ottoman 18th century.

Using any one of the definitions and/or categories of culture -
scholarly, material, artistic, literary, popular, etcetera - interested
scholars were invited to present papers that re-thought the Ottoman 18th
century by considering cultural ruptures, discontinuities,
re-definitions, culminations, or new syntheses, while emphasizing the
circumstances to which these changes were a response.

The following is the conference schedule.


Saturday, Jan 15, 2005

Session One

"The Eighteenth Century: an Islamic Enlightenment?"
Ahmad Dallal, Georgetown University, US

"Pearl Diving in the Sea of Thought: Cultural and Social Practices of
Raghib Mehmed Pasha (d.1763)"
Henning Sievert, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany


"Reformulations of Ottoman Zimmi Historiography in the 18th Century:
the Case of Kallinicos of Zagora"
Dean Sakel, Bogazici University, Turkey


Session Two

"Public Space and the Garden Culture in Istanbul in the 18th Century."
Shirine Hamadeh, Rice University, US

"Eating the Nahils: Consumption, Fertility Symbol and the Expansion
of Ottoman Circumcision Rituals in the Eighteenth Century."
Babak Rahimi, European University Institute, Italy

"The Janissary Coffeehouses in Late Eighteenth Century Istanbul."
Ali Caksu, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, Turkey


Sunday, January 16, 2005

Session Three

"The Heart's Desire: Gender, Urban Space, and the Ottoman Coffeehouse"
Alan Mikhail, University of California, Berkeley, US

"Domestic Space and Privacy: Continuity and Change in the Urban House of
Eighteenth Century Istanbul"
Selma Akyazici Ozkocak, Bogazici University, Turkey

"Private Gatherings in Eighteenth Century Sarajevo"
Nenad Filipovic, Princeton University, US


Session Four

"The Appearance of Saadabad: A Reappraisal of the Position of the
'Tulip Age' in the Perception of Eighteenth Century Ottoman Culture"
Can Erimtan, The British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, Turkey

"Representing the Poetics of a Changing Society: Traditional Genres as
Vehicle for Artistic Novelties in a Broadened Latitude of Poetry"
Fikret Turan, Halic University, Turkey

"Tulips to Roses: Rethinking Ottoman Embroidery in the Eighteenth Century"
Sumru Belger Krody, The Textile Museum, US


Session Five

"The First Ottoman Printing Enterprise: Success or Failure (a Reassessment)"
Orlin Sabev, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria,

"Between Istanbul and Fas: Islamic Patterns of Sovereignty and Issues of
Legitimacy in a Changing World."
Muhammad el-Mansour, Mohammed V University, Morocco

"Alternative Sources for the Cultural History of the Eighteenth Century
Ottoman Levant"
Sara Scalenghe, Georgetown University, US


All conference activities will take place at the Friend Center,
Convocation Room (FC 113) (William St. and Olden St.)

For queries, please contact Dana Sajdi at dsajdi@alcor.concordia.ca