This dissertation focuses on the consolidation of the Ottoman printing enterprise between the est... more This dissertation focuses on the consolidation of the Ottoman printing enterprise between the establishment of the Directorate of Takvîm-i Vekâyi‘hâne-i Âmire in 1831 and its annexation to the Ministry of Public Education in 1863. It argues that the main agents of the printed medium emerged in this period. These agents and the Ottoman state entered a process of intensive experimentation, competition, and bargaining that paved the way for the formation of a legal framework. Moreover, their interaction with the changing socio-economic context introduced the printed book as a commercialized item in the Ottoman market. In the meantime, what was in origin a foreign technology was internalized, made Ottoman, and rendered meaningful.
This study further treats the printed books under two groups: as textbooks prioritized by the Ottoman state for their utility-value and as books introduced by non-state actors with an eye to tastes in the wider book market. In both cases, traditional and religious titles substantially outnumber new titles. This shows that a new technology was in fact utilized for the dissemination of the Ottoman traditional culture, a finding that challenges the narratives of nineteenth-century Ottoman modernization and secularization. Rather than a technological device, the printing press becomes a socio-intellectual tool for various agents bending even the traditional discourse in a new direction; by the 1860s, the press would become such a familiar part of Ottoman society that even those texts considered most sacred would be printed underground, in violation of both political and religious sensitivities.
This paper will explore the intricate relations between the Ottoman state and various religious c... more This paper will explore the intricate relations between the Ottoman state and various religious communities of the empire, in particular the Greeks and the Armenians, in the mid-19th century. Focusing specifically on these relations as reflected in issues surrounding the dissemination of books, it will illuminate how, in a religiously plural environment, Ottoman officials tried to retain the loyalty of Christian subjects by censoring the circulation of missionary (especially Protestant) liturgical texts, as demanded by local (especially Orthodox and Catholic) churches. It will also highlight how agents of the patriarchates and local Christians corresponded and mobilized their own resources in tracking books of a political nature to protect not just the interests of their own communities, but also those of the Ottoman Empire more broadly.
This study demonstrates the dissemination of modern science in the Ottoman Empire in the eighteen... more This study demonstrates the dissemination of modern science in the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century through an analysis of the location of modern astronomy within the body of a popular encyclopedia, the Ma’rifetnâme. While the textual analysis remains a central concern, the life of its producer, Erzurumlu İbrahim Hakkı is scrutunized in detail so far as the factors that shaped the formation of his intellectual outlook are concerned. The objective is to understand how İbrahim Hakkı integrated modern science into his intellectual framework. In the meantime, the outer shell concerns the making of modern science in Western Europe to specify the conditions that facilitated the process both similar and in contrast to those in the Ottoman Empire.
The final picture suggests that İbrahim Hakkı developed an intellectual framework that was receptive to both faith and reason. On the one hand, he resorted to an Islamic universe that relied on a religious terminology, but failed to be explained through reason, as he conceded. On the other hand, there was the world of observation and mathematics both of which appealed to reason. It was in this category that İbrahim Hakkı treated the Ptolemaic and the Copernican universes as separate from the givens of religion. The creation and the glory of God was to be accepted, but apart from that, İbrahim Hakkı had no problem with the scientific articulations of the universe. All systems, in the end, testified to the unity and the glory of the Creator, and thus, there was no real differentiation between reason and religion. Through this flexible integration of his purely descriptive knowledge of modern astronomy into the same intellectual framework as the traditional Ptolemaic one, İbrahim Hakkı partook in the popular dissemination of modern science within the Ottoman Empire.
This article explores the new functions and meanings books gained amid the novel technologies, sh... more This article explores the new functions and meanings books gained amid the novel technologies, shifting political dynamics, and growing commercialization of the midnineteenth century, with a particular focus on the various ways authors, state figures, and various intermediaries used books to advance themselves and their diverse agendas. Through an examination of some 150 petitions written by European authors to the Ottoman Empire between the 1840s and the 1860s, it argues that for European authors, the book served as an opportunity to codify and commodify their expertise and as a means of securing prestige, position, and pecuniary gain from the courts of Europe and further afield, including the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, for the Ottoman sultans and their advisers, these same books served as tools both for advancing the empire through science and for strengthening ties with particular European powers and institutions. Taken as a whole, these petitions reveal a complex, international web of personal and professional relationships, state interests, and diplomatic manoeuvring surrounding the book in the mid-nineteenth century, a web that extended far beyond the borders of Europe and the Ottoman domain.
Scholarship on the Ottoman printing enterprise has long neglected the part played by the traditio... more Scholarship on the Ottoman printing enterprise has long neglected the part played by the traditional actors of the written word, including the ulema and calligraphers, in the rise of the press. Though traditionally viewed as opponents of the new print technology, these actors continued to fulfill vital roles in everything from editorial work to the technomaterial aspects of printing, generating new opportunities for themselves in a rapidly changing cultural environment. This paper focuses on their role in the Imperial Press to reveal how the know-how of these actors was critical for the transition to the new Ottoman cultural medium of print. It further suggests that as these actors adapted and carried their skills to that medium, they themselves were influenced by the new technology of the press, and the novel ways of relating to the written word that came with it, in a profound way, with significant implications for the nature of scholarship and the shape of the scholarly career track during the period.
This paper traces the printing of Ottoman chronicles at the Imperial Press from 1727 to 1865. It ... more This paper traces the printing of Ottoman chronicles at the Imperial Press from 1727 to 1865. It argues that printing provided a new layer for the legitimization of the Ottoman dynasty by depicting its history from its beginnings until the mid-19th century in an uninterrupted and continuous fashion. It further reveals the intervention of editorial actors and the agency of institutions in producing the printed copies of specific chronicles.
This dissertation focuses on the consolidation of the Ottoman printing enterprise between the est... more This dissertation focuses on the consolidation of the Ottoman printing enterprise between the establishment of the Directorate of Takvîm-i Vekâyi‘hâne-i Âmire in 1831 and its annexation to the Ministry of Public Education in 1863. It argues that the main agents of the printed medium emerged in this period. These agents and the Ottoman state entered a process of intensive experimentation, competition, and bargaining that paved the way for the formation of a legal framework. Moreover, their interaction with the changing socio-economic context introduced the printed book as a commercialized item in the Ottoman market. In the meantime, what was in origin a foreign technology was internalized, made Ottoman, and rendered meaningful.
This study further treats the printed books under two groups: as textbooks prioritized by the Ottoman state for their utility-value and as books introduced by non-state actors with an eye to tastes in the wider book market. In both cases, traditional and religious titles substantially outnumber new titles. This shows that a new technology was in fact utilized for the dissemination of the Ottoman traditional culture, a finding that challenges the narratives of nineteenth-century Ottoman modernization and secularization. Rather than a technological device, the printing press becomes a socio-intellectual tool for various agents bending even the traditional discourse in a new direction; by the 1860s, the press would become such a familiar part of Ottoman society that even those texts considered most sacred would be printed underground, in violation of both political and religious sensitivities.
This paper will explore the intricate relations between the Ottoman state and various religious c... more This paper will explore the intricate relations between the Ottoman state and various religious communities of the empire, in particular the Greeks and the Armenians, in the mid-19th century. Focusing specifically on these relations as reflected in issues surrounding the dissemination of books, it will illuminate how, in a religiously plural environment, Ottoman officials tried to retain the loyalty of Christian subjects by censoring the circulation of missionary (especially Protestant) liturgical texts, as demanded by local (especially Orthodox and Catholic) churches. It will also highlight how agents of the patriarchates and local Christians corresponded and mobilized their own resources in tracking books of a political nature to protect not just the interests of their own communities, but also those of the Ottoman Empire more broadly.
This study demonstrates the dissemination of modern science in the Ottoman Empire in the eighteen... more This study demonstrates the dissemination of modern science in the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century through an analysis of the location of modern astronomy within the body of a popular encyclopedia, the Ma’rifetnâme. While the textual analysis remains a central concern, the life of its producer, Erzurumlu İbrahim Hakkı is scrutunized in detail so far as the factors that shaped the formation of his intellectual outlook are concerned. The objective is to understand how İbrahim Hakkı integrated modern science into his intellectual framework. In the meantime, the outer shell concerns the making of modern science in Western Europe to specify the conditions that facilitated the process both similar and in contrast to those in the Ottoman Empire.
The final picture suggests that İbrahim Hakkı developed an intellectual framework that was receptive to both faith and reason. On the one hand, he resorted to an Islamic universe that relied on a religious terminology, but failed to be explained through reason, as he conceded. On the other hand, there was the world of observation and mathematics both of which appealed to reason. It was in this category that İbrahim Hakkı treated the Ptolemaic and the Copernican universes as separate from the givens of religion. The creation and the glory of God was to be accepted, but apart from that, İbrahim Hakkı had no problem with the scientific articulations of the universe. All systems, in the end, testified to the unity and the glory of the Creator, and thus, there was no real differentiation between reason and religion. Through this flexible integration of his purely descriptive knowledge of modern astronomy into the same intellectual framework as the traditional Ptolemaic one, İbrahim Hakkı partook in the popular dissemination of modern science within the Ottoman Empire.
This article explores the new functions and meanings books gained amid the novel technologies, sh... more This article explores the new functions and meanings books gained amid the novel technologies, shifting political dynamics, and growing commercialization of the midnineteenth century, with a particular focus on the various ways authors, state figures, and various intermediaries used books to advance themselves and their diverse agendas. Through an examination of some 150 petitions written by European authors to the Ottoman Empire between the 1840s and the 1860s, it argues that for European authors, the book served as an opportunity to codify and commodify their expertise and as a means of securing prestige, position, and pecuniary gain from the courts of Europe and further afield, including the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, for the Ottoman sultans and their advisers, these same books served as tools both for advancing the empire through science and for strengthening ties with particular European powers and institutions. Taken as a whole, these petitions reveal a complex, international web of personal and professional relationships, state interests, and diplomatic manoeuvring surrounding the book in the mid-nineteenth century, a web that extended far beyond the borders of Europe and the Ottoman domain.
Scholarship on the Ottoman printing enterprise has long neglected the part played by the traditio... more Scholarship on the Ottoman printing enterprise has long neglected the part played by the traditional actors of the written word, including the ulema and calligraphers, in the rise of the press. Though traditionally viewed as opponents of the new print technology, these actors continued to fulfill vital roles in everything from editorial work to the technomaterial aspects of printing, generating new opportunities for themselves in a rapidly changing cultural environment. This paper focuses on their role in the Imperial Press to reveal how the know-how of these actors was critical for the transition to the new Ottoman cultural medium of print. It further suggests that as these actors adapted and carried their skills to that medium, they themselves were influenced by the new technology of the press, and the novel ways of relating to the written word that came with it, in a profound way, with significant implications for the nature of scholarship and the shape of the scholarly career track during the period.
This paper traces the printing of Ottoman chronicles at the Imperial Press from 1727 to 1865. It ... more This paper traces the printing of Ottoman chronicles at the Imperial Press from 1727 to 1865. It argues that printing provided a new layer for the legitimization of the Ottoman dynasty by depicting its history from its beginnings until the mid-19th century in an uninterrupted and continuous fashion. It further reveals the intervention of editorial actors and the agency of institutions in producing the printed copies of specific chronicles.
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This study further treats the printed books under two groups: as textbooks prioritized by the Ottoman state for their utility-value and as books introduced by non-state actors with an eye to tastes in the wider book market. In both cases, traditional and religious titles substantially outnumber new titles. This shows that a new technology was in fact utilized for the dissemination of the Ottoman traditional culture, a finding that challenges the narratives of nineteenth-century Ottoman modernization and secularization. Rather than a technological device, the printing press becomes a socio-intellectual tool for various agents bending even the traditional discourse in a new direction; by the 1860s, the press would become such a familiar part of Ottoman society that even those texts considered most sacred would be printed underground, in violation of both political and religious sensitivities.
The final picture suggests that İbrahim Hakkı developed an intellectual framework that was receptive to both faith and reason. On the one hand, he resorted to an Islamic universe that relied on a religious terminology, but failed to be explained through reason, as he conceded. On the other hand, there was the world of observation and mathematics both of which appealed to reason. It was in this category that İbrahim Hakkı treated the Ptolemaic and the Copernican universes as separate from the givens of religion. The creation and the glory of God was to be accepted, but apart from that, İbrahim Hakkı had no problem with the scientific articulations of the universe. All systems, in the end, testified to the unity and the glory of the Creator, and thus, there was no real differentiation between reason and religion. Through this flexible integration of his purely descriptive knowledge of modern astronomy into the same intellectual framework as the traditional Ptolemaic one, İbrahim Hakkı partook in the popular dissemination of modern science within the Ottoman Empire.
This study further treats the printed books under two groups: as textbooks prioritized by the Ottoman state for their utility-value and as books introduced by non-state actors with an eye to tastes in the wider book market. In both cases, traditional and religious titles substantially outnumber new titles. This shows that a new technology was in fact utilized for the dissemination of the Ottoman traditional culture, a finding that challenges the narratives of nineteenth-century Ottoman modernization and secularization. Rather than a technological device, the printing press becomes a socio-intellectual tool for various agents bending even the traditional discourse in a new direction; by the 1860s, the press would become such a familiar part of Ottoman society that even those texts considered most sacred would be printed underground, in violation of both political and religious sensitivities.
The final picture suggests that İbrahim Hakkı developed an intellectual framework that was receptive to both faith and reason. On the one hand, he resorted to an Islamic universe that relied on a religious terminology, but failed to be explained through reason, as he conceded. On the other hand, there was the world of observation and mathematics both of which appealed to reason. It was in this category that İbrahim Hakkı treated the Ptolemaic and the Copernican universes as separate from the givens of religion. The creation and the glory of God was to be accepted, but apart from that, İbrahim Hakkı had no problem with the scientific articulations of the universe. All systems, in the end, testified to the unity and the glory of the Creator, and thus, there was no real differentiation between reason and religion. Through this flexible integration of his purely descriptive knowledge of modern astronomy into the same intellectual framework as the traditional Ptolemaic one, İbrahim Hakkı partook in the popular dissemination of modern science within the Ottoman Empire.