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The book introduces sources on late Ottoman Istanbul's diverse population by drawing on the voices of its permanent residents and foreign visitors. It juxtaposes a selection of unpublished and/or neglected life narratives to the prevailing national historiographies and creates a tapestry of diverse perceptions of life in the Ottoman capital.
List of contents
Contents. List of Figures. Notes on Contributors. Introduction Christoph Herzog and Richard Wittmann. Part I: European and Ottoman Women in the Empire. 1. The Memories of German-speaking Women of Constantinople Gudrun Wedel. 2. Wanderlust, Follies, and Self-Inflicted Misfortunes: The Memoirs of Anna Forneris and her Thirty Years in Constantinople and the Levant Malte Fuhrmann. 3. The Imperial Harem Network in Istanbul, 1850s to 1922 Börte Sagaster. Part II: Outside Observers of Istanbul 4. Amalgamated Observations: Assessing American Impressions of Nineteenth-Century Constantinople and its Peoples Kent Schull. 5. Istanbul and the Formation of an Arab Teenager’s Identity. Recollections of a Cadet in the Ottoman Army in 1914 and 1916–17 Malek Sharif. 6. Hispanic Observers of Istanbul Pablo Martín Asuero. Part III: Jewish Communities 7. The Autobiographical Writings of the Constantinople Judezmo Journalist David Fresco as a Clue toward His Attitude to Language David M. Bunis 8. Istanbul’s Jewish Community through the Eyes of a European Jew. Ludwig A. Frankl in his Nach Jerusalem Yaron Ben-Naeh. Part IV: Armenian and Bulgarian Christian Communities 9. A Stroll through the Quarters of Constantinople: Sketches of the City as Seen through the Eyes of the Great Satirist Hagop Baronian Rachel Goshgarian. 10. From Short Stories to Social Topography: Misak Koçunyan’s Life Landscapes Aylin Koçunyan. 11."Bulgar Milleti Nedir?" Syncretic Forms of Belonging in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Istanbul. Darin Stephanov. 12. Twenty Years in the Ottoman Capital: The Memoirs of Doctor Hristo Tanev Stambolski of Kazanlik (1843-1932) from an Ottoman Point of View Johann Strauss. Index
About the author
Christoph Herzog is Professor of Turcology at the University of Bamberg, Germany. He studied Middle Eastern and modern European history at Freiburg, Germany and in Istanbul. His research interests focus on late Ottoman history, especially on the history of the Arab provinces, intellectual history and biographical studies.
Richard Wittmann is the Associate Director of the German Orient-Institut Istanbul. He studied law, Islamic Studies and Turcology in Munich, Berlin, and Cambridge, Mass., where he earned his PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History from Harvard University. He specializes in the Islamic legal and social history of the Ottoman Empire, as well as narrative sources for the study of the Middle East.
Summary
The book introduces sources on late Ottoman Istanbul's diverse population by drawing on the voices of its permanent residents and foreign visitors. It juxtaposes a selection of unpublished and/or neglected life narratives to the prevailing national historiographies and creates a tapestry of diverse perceptions of life in the Ottoman capital.
