Reflections on the Image of the Turk in Europe 9781617198717, 1617198714

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Reflections on the Image of the Turk in Europe

Analecta Isisiana: Ottoman and Turkish Studies

109

A co-publication with The Isis Press, Istanbul, the series consists of collections of thematic essays focused on specific themes of Ottoman and Turkish studies. These scholarly volumes address important issues throughout Turkish history, offering in a single volume the accumulated insights of a single author over a career of research on the subject.

Reflections on the Image of the Turk in Europe

Nedret Kuran-Burçoglu

The Isis Press, Istanbul

0ûr0ÎaS preSS 2010

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2010 by The Isis Press, Istanbul Originally published in 2009 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of The Isis Press, Istanbul. 2010

ISBN 978-1-61719-871-7

Reprinted from the 2009 Istanbul edition.

Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

7

PART I Perceptions, Representations and the Image of the Turk in Europe from 15th Century to the Present

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

11

Representations of the Turk in the English and German Speaking Spaces of Europe in Early Modern Age

13

Reflections of the Intellectual Life of the Turks in the European Media of the 18th Century

31

The Memory Between Reality and Imagination - A Comparison of Memoires of Jean-Baptiste Vanmour and Jean Leon-Gerome of the Ottoman Empire, as Represented in Their Paintings

53

The Image of the Turk in Karl May's Novel Von Bagdad nach Stambul

67

The Image of "Self' and the "Other" Turkish Migrant Authors in Germany

79

in the Works of the

PART II

85

i.

Compendium on the Image of the Turk in Europe

87

ii.

Selected List of Publications related to the Subject Matter

89

PREFACE

The articles in this book are the outcomes of an intensive imagological research carried out on 'the Representations of the Turks in Europe' the roots of which go back to 1980s when I was first introduced to the world of Imagology while trying to do research in Comparative Literature to deepen my knowledge in the theory of this field. My mentor in this interdisciplinary research area was Professor Hugo Dyserinck and his Aachen School of Komparatistik. I met him in 1989, that is a few years after I had finished my Doctorate on 'the Reception of Goethe in Turkey'. Hugo Dyserinck gave me the first impulse with the crucial principles and research methods of this discipline that became not only an academic interest area for me, but it also influenzed and shaped my world view. Imagology gave me the opportunity to set up links, organize Workshops and exchange knowledge with valuable colleagues working on the same field from different parts of the world, and at the same time to introduce this relatively new field to Turkish students in Masters and Doctoral Seminars in Comparative Literature and Antropology Departments of Turkish universities. Since 1997, within the scope of this interdisciplinary research field I have focused on the analysis of 'The Image of the Turk in Europe' and have added into my investigation field of written and oral sources also the visual and audio-visual materials, such as musical expressions, illustrations, films, cartoons and paintings. My lectures that I have held in Turkey and abroad have received thought provoking feedback from my students and from broader audiences that were in turn reflected in my publications. I am thankful to my mentor, my colleagues and students who have shared my interest in Imagology and who have given me feedback, motivation and joy with their enthusiasm and participation in lively discussions. In this book which consists of two parts, I aimed to collect five of my articles, a Compendium on the Image of the Turk in Europe and a Selected List of Articles that were published in Turkey and abroad on this subject. Each of the five articles that appear in the first part of the book were written within the scopes of research projects that were launched by various European academic institutions. They were presented in Conferences and Symposia and published in academic Journals.

8

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OF THE T U R K IN E U R O P E

The first article, that compares the Image of the Turk in two spaces of Europe between the years 1450 and 1800 has the title Representations of the Turk in the English and German Speaking Spaces of Europe in Early Modern Age. This paper was presented in a History C o n f e r e n c e , entitled, Die Kommunikative Konstruktion des Anderen, that was organized in Karl Franzens Universitaet, Graz, in Austria by Gabriele Haugmoritz and Rudolph Pelizaeus in November 2007. The article will be published with some changes in Germany, in 2010. The second article, that investigates how Turks were received by European media in Central Europe and how their intellectual life was presented to European audiences during the 18 th Century has the title Reflections of the Intellectual Life of the Turks in the European Media of the 18th Century. This paper was presented in the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Ljubljana in a Workshop, entitled, The Image of Franks in Turkey and the Image ofOsmanlis in Slovenja, organized by Bozidar Jezernic, in September 2007. T h e third article, that depicts the reflection of the T u r k s in the paintings of two European artists in 18th and 19th centuries, compares them among themselves and with the representations of Turks by themselves that appear in Ottoman artworks. It has the title The Memory Between Reality and Imagination-A Comparison of Memoires of Jean-Baptiste Vanmour and Jean Leon Gerome of the Ottoman Empire, as Represented in Their Paintings. This paper was written and presented in the Macedonian A c a d e m y of S c i e n c e s and Arts in S k o p j e , M a c e d o n i a , within t h e s c o p e of Interpretations: European Research Project for Poetics and Hermeneutics, sponsored by the U N E S C O , organized by Kata Kulavkova, in November 2007, and published by M A N U Press, in 2008. The fourth article of the book focuses on the Image of the Turk in a novel of Karl May, the popular author of the late 19th-early 20th century German Literature. The article, entitled, The Image of the Turk in Karl May's Novel 'Von Bagdad nach Stambul' was published in the Journal of Mediterranean Studies, compiled and edited by Kate Fleet and Ildiko Beller Hann, and published by Malta Press, in 1995. T h e fifth article concentrates on identity issues of the three successive generations of Turkish migrant authors in Germany and how these are reflected in their Works. This article is entitled, The Image of 'Self' and the 'Other' in the Works of the Turkish Migrant Authors in Germany. It was presented in the Workshop, A Common European Identity in a Multicultured Continent, jointly organized by SUheyla Artemel and Nedret Kuran, at the Bogazi§i University Center vor Comparative European Culture and Art, in 1991 and published in the book Multiculturalism: Identity and Otherness, compiled and edited by myself, in Bogazi£i University Press in 1997.

PREFACE

9

These articles, covering the time period 15th to 18th centuries that complement each other and reflect on issues of "Identity", "Otherness", "Perceptions" and "Representations of the Turks" by Europeans who come from different geographical parts of Europe, and belong to different religions and creeds, with different ethnic and national identities, reveal various aspects of the phenomenon of the Image of the Turk in Europe and its varying dynamic shape due to socio-cultural conditions, as well as ideology and political strategies of the particular time and space in which the image had emerged or changed its shape. In this context I would also like to point out that the wide range of disciplines that were represented in the Research Projects I have mentioned here, extending from history to philosophy, from comparative literature to European Studies, from antropology to International Relations, from history of art to sociology that show interest in this subject matter indicates how crucial Imagological Research has become in our day. The second part of the book contains a Compendium on the Image of the Turk and Turkey in history, starting with the 11th century and extending to the Present. This survey, entitled Turkey was prepared for the book Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, Authored, Compiled and Edited by Manfred Beller & Joep Leerssen and published by Rodopi Publications, in Amsterdam, in 2007. The survey is followed by a Selected List of Publications related to the Image of the Turk by Turkish, European and American authors of various disciplines who elaborate on different sides of this subject. I hope that this book with its interdisciplinary focus will be thought provoking and entertaining for a broad readership and may at the same time give inspiration for further research on this field. Moda, August 2009

PART I Perceptions, Representations and the Image of the Turk in Europe from ] 5th Century to the Present

I REPRESENTATIONS OF THE TURK IN THE ENGLISH A N D GERMAN SPEAKING SPACES OF EUROPE IN EARLY MODERN AGE -MID-15TH TO I8TH CENTURIES 1 -

Introduction Interdisciplinary imagological research that deconstructs and interprets the representations of the Turk in Europe within a sociocultural context has provided valuable results for the young researchers of this topic. One such result based on a diachronic analysis on the Image of the Turk in Europe, that starts with the Seldschuk Turks' expansion in Asia Minor towards the West in the 11th Century, and extends to the Present Time 2 has revealed that this image was transformed in the course of history according to various circumstances, such as the proximity of the particular country, in which the image had emerged for the first time or changed its nature, to the Ottoman Empire and later to Turkey, and wars, victories and defeats between the two countries in question. Cultural aspects, religious differences, conventions, conflicting social norms, value judgements as well as human psychology and pre-existing images, that is positive and/or negative stereotypes and clichés of the Ottomans/Turks as well as ideology have played significant roles in shaping and reshaping of this image. (Kuran-Bur§oglu 2003g: 23). This indicates that this image which has been disseminated through oral, written and visual media was not uniform and has undergone continuous changes. This paper will concentrate on a particular period of the history of this image that started in the mid-fifteenth century with the Conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman army under the leadership of Sultan Mehmet II in 1453 and extended to the 18th Century, that is short before the start of the Enlightenment. As it is well-known this period is called 'Early Modern Age' (Friihneuzeit) in the History of Europe.

A slightly changed version of a paper presented at the International History Congress, entitled Die Kommunikative Konstruktion des 'Anderen' in Karl Franzens Universität, Graz, on November 29th, 2007 which will be co-edited by G. Haugmoritz & R. Pelizaeus and published in 2010 together with the papers of the History Congress. A shorter version of the first part of the paper will be published in the book, entitled Imagining Turk co-edifed by Bozidar Jezernic and Nazan Aksoy, in Cambridge University Press, in 2010. 2

See Kula 1992; Kuran-Bur^oglu 1999d,2000,2002,2003,2005,2006,2007; Soykut 2003.

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R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

During Early Modern Age very important historical events had taken place that are also considered major turning points in the relationships of the Ottoman Empire with the European countries as they at the same time signify clashes between the Christian and the Muslim world. 1453, the fall of the East Roman Empire with the Turkish Conquest of Constantinople; 1571, the defeat of the Turkish armada in the Gulf of Lepanto, near Italy by the Christian fleet comprised of Venetian, Sicilian and Papal forces under the leadership of Don John of Austria and 1683, the resistance of the Christian army to the Turks'second siege of Vienna, composed of Austrian, German, Polish and Papal forces under the leadership of the Polish Prince Jean Sobieski are three important examples of such historical events, the reflections of which can extensively be traced in written and visual works of art of the time in Europe. These major and other minor historical events however, have found different reflections in different European countries, that is they have been perceived, interpreted and represented in different ways which may be the outcome of different socio-cultural relationships, ideological factors and sensitivities that prevailed in those particular countries during the Early Modern Age. This paper will try to emphasize such differences by focusing on the representations of the Turk in German and British written and visual sources and evaluating them from an imagological perspective.

I. Representations of the Turks in the German Sources of Early Modern Age The horror induced by the Turks in Europe had escalated during the 14th century with their victories in the Balkans and reached its climax with the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453 which also marked the end of the East Roman Empire. This fear was intensively felt in the neighbouring countries of the Ottoman Empire, like the Balkans and Italy, and from there it spread to Central Europe whereas northern European countries were relatively less affected by it, they were informed about this expansionist enemy and its potential threats for Europe through the accounts of people living in central and southeastern countries of Europe. One of the important representations of the Turks can be found in Hans Rosenpliit's Carnival plays entitled, Des Türken Fastnachtspiel and Ein Lied von dem Türken that were staged in Germany, in 1454 for the first time. In these two plays, which appeared in Germany just after the Conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Emperor Mehmet II, the Turkish Sultan was

THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN SPEAKING

SPACES

15

represented as the 'Great T u r k ' , 'the Conqueror of Byzantium' w h o had come to the city of Nuremberg to find solutions to people's problems because he was an 'experienced, mighty and just emperor' whose subjects lived 'in peace' and ' w h o did not have to pay any tributes to their rulers'. Besides, 'this mighty Emperor would go to war in front of his army and not let his people go alone to fight against the e n e m y ' ( 0 n l i i 1981:43-44, Kocadoru 1990). The positive representation of the Turk mentioned here is remarkable as it appeared in two Carnival plays which depicted scenes from everyday life and in which people can be critical about their state and rulers. They can criticise them without being afraid of being censored or p u n i s h e d . T h e a u t h o r ' s discourse in these two Carnival plays is full of allusions and implications. From it it can be deduced that the German people were not happy with the treatment they were subjected to in their country. In other words, they felt that they were treated unjustly by their rulers to w h o m they had to pay high tributes. Rosenpliit was also hinting to the fact that the German rulers had left their subjects alone in the war against the enemy which lead to feelings of disappointment and distrust. Taking into consideration the popularity of the Carnival plays that were received by large audiences and the time when they were performed, that is just one year after the Conquest of Constantinople by the Turks who were considered the 'arch-enemy of the Christians', it is not difficult to understand that the positive image created in those two Carnival plays was taken by the ruling classes of Europe as a serious threat for their prestige and the integrity of their community. After 1453 the interest about the Turks increased in Europe which was manifested in the increasing number of books and illustrations about them. T h e invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg that had facilitated the proliferation and dissemination of information contributed to the spread of knowledge about the Turks. Soon the favourable image of the Turk drawn by Hans Rosenplüt's plays was balanced through a couple of negative traits of the Turks in written and visual media in the German speaking areas of Europe. Yiiksel Kocadoru in his book, entitled Die Türken: Studien Bild und Seiner Geschichte

in Österreich

zu

Ihrem

considers the designation of these

negative clichés by the rulers as precautions that were taken against possible rebellions of their o w n subjects against t h e m , that is to secure their own positions and keep their subjects united against an enemy w h o was described and illustrated a s a 'child m u r d e r e r ' , a ' r a p i s t ' , a 'devil incarnate',a 'cannibal', w h o was likened to the antagonists in biblical m y t h s , and w h o was undermining the integrity of Christianity through his hereticism. Kocadoru also lists in his book a couple of other propaganda techniques used against this enemy, such as making use of the traditional Christian-Islamic conflict,

16

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN

EUROPE

exaggeration of the victories of the Europeans against the Turks, and diminishing the anxiety by creating virtual fighting possibilities against them in fairs (Kocadoru 1990). Die Welt des Hans Sachs is a good source that reflects these stereotypes. This book was written in 1520s. It is full of illustrations depicting the l urk in horrible shapes as mentioned above. Since Hans Sachs (1494-1576) was a lucrative writer, singer, dramatist and illustrator of the 16th century, one might think that his book might have been read by a large public whose minds might have been influenced by these negative stereotypes about the Turks.

The Image of the Turk as the 'religious other' of the Christians was reinforced by Martin Luther who described the Turks, in his church sermons Vom Kriege wider den Tiirken (1529) and Heerpredikt (1529), Vermahnung

wider den

Tiirken

zum Gebet wider den Tiirken (1541) as the 'scourge of

God', and as the 'daemon' who were sent by God to punish the Christians, as they were mislead by the Pope and were indulged in worldly benefits. Thus Pope was also accused of having misinterpreted the word of God.

THE E N G L I S H AND G E R M A N S P E A K I N G

SPACES

17

We can link this conclusion of Luther to Ricoldi de Monte Croce's — an Italian priest's — designation of the Turk as the 'evil fate of Christianity' whose Confutation of the Qur'an written in the 14th century, Martin Luther had translated into German. In his first two texts Luther passively accepts this misfortune which is in line with the Medieval world view, in which history was seen as a manifestation of God's purpose. As Siiheyla Artemel has stated in her article on "The View of the Turks from the Perspective of the Humanists in Renaissance England" whatever happens on earth has its place in divine scheme ordained in accordance with God's will and providence (Artemel 2003:154). Martin Luther who was in favour of the providential view and thus adopted pacifism against the Turks' encroachment in Europe had been accused by his contemporary British humanist historians who had a secular interpretation of history and were defending the Aristotelian view of trying to solve the historical problems through logical reasoning (ibid.). In the course of time, twelve years later, however, Martin Luther abandoned his pacifism against the Turks and invited the Christians to war against this enemy whom he considered as the 'religious other' in his third church sermon mentioned above. Martin Luther's attitude against the Turks can also be read from the point of view of identity formation. He was trying to introduce his new religious doctrine and shape a new identity with certain religious and social values. In order to achieve this he needed to distinguish his doctrine from those of the other religions and used Roman Catholisizm and Islam to fulfill his purpose. Through 'othering' the Roman Catholisizm, and the 'religious other', that is the Turks, representing Islam, he introduced his doctrine. He used the vernacular language, the colloquial German in his Bible translation to appeal to a broad public, the printing press to spread the holy book all over Europe and finally the influence of Frederick I, the Elector of Saxony to gain political power. Having established his creed he changed his pacifist stance vis a vis the Turks and called his supporters to war against this 'anti-Christ' who was supposed to undermine the integrity of Christianity. Another interesting German document of the 16th century depicting the Turks was a scientific study written by Hans Lowenklau, a nobleman from Westphalia, with the help of his translator Johannes Gaudier and published in 1588. The title of this work was Annates Sultanorum Othmanidarum a Turcis sua lingua scripti. Two years later the book was translated into German under the following title; Newe Chronika/Tiirkischer Nation von Turcken selbstbeschrieben. This text is very significant as it was based on the descriptions of the famous Turkish historian Saadettin's history book Tarihlerin Taci. Franz Babinger in his book Stambuler Buchwe sen im 18.

18

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN

Jahrhundert

EUROPE

while criticising the attitudes of the 16th and 17th century travel

writings with lack of depth, praises Hans Lôwenklaus precision and objectivity that he considers as exceptional for his time and states that Lovvenklau's travellogue had formed a modell for the Turkish Studies in the 19th century (in Kuran-Burçoglu 2005: 27).

David Schuster's Compilation, Mahomets

und Turcken

(Studjiska knjiznica, Ptuj)

Greuel,

Frankfurt 1664.

THE E N G L I S H AND G E R M A N S P E A K I N G

SPACES

19

A further significant German source that reflects the Image of the l urk in the Early Modern Age is a compilation of texts and illustrations done by David Schuster and published in Frankfurt, in 1664. It is entitled, Mahomets und Türken Greuel, das ist Kurtze doch allgemeine

historische

entwerfung

des Mahometisch und tiirckischen Unwesens, Ursprung / Krieg / Tyranney / Glaubens und Sitten. The book is a rich source for negative clichés about the anti-islamic polemic that were extensively used in Italy and in the Habsburg Monarchy well into the Enlightenment. The historical context in which the book was compiled provides us a clear explanation. It was a time when a war was waged against the Ottomans, and the indication that the book was intended for the ordinary German man suggests that it might have been used for the purposes of propaganda during the war (in 1663) against this enemy. Negative images about the Turks in the German speaking part of Europe continued during the 17th century. Stereotypes are abundant in the Baroque plays of the German literature in which Christian women are depicted as forced to choose between becoming the mistresses of Turkish rulers or face execution (Ünlii 1981:48, Kuran-Burfoglu 2003:27). In the following three Baroque tragedies, in Catharina von Georgien (1651) of Andreas Gryphius, in Ibrahim Bassa (1653) and Ibrahim Sultan (1673) of Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein, the antagonists, that is the Shah of Persia, Ibrahim Bassa and Ibrahim Sultan, who are all Muslims, symbolize this world and its vices whereas the Christian figures, like Catharina von Georgien and Ambre who are presented as virtuous women characters wait to be rewarded in the other world, in God's providence in line with the world concept of the Baroque period. The male characters on the other hand, that is the Shah, who is not Turkish but in the eyes of the Europeans an Oriental as well, Ibrahim Bassa and Ibrahim Sultan are portrayed as obsessed with sensuality which adds a new concept to the Image of the Turk in Europe that is the i m a g e of the lustful Turk' whom we meet also in the hamam and harem scenes of the painters who formed Orientalist schools in the 19th century following the colonialization phase. Cornelia Kleinlogel in her book entitled, Exotik-Erotik zur Geschichte des Türkenbildes in der deutschen Literatur der frühen Neuzeit (1453

1800)

provides an explanation to Europeans' excessive interest in the hamam and harem stories by interpreting it as a "projection of the repressed sensuality in Europe due to Christian prohibitive norms concerning sexuality" (Kleinlogel 1989, Kuran-Bur§oglu 2003: 28,2005:35). Towards the end of the 17th century, in 1683 with the defeat of the Turks at the second siege of Vienna the third important milestone in the History of the Image of the Turk happened. From that point on the negative clichés about them - ' u g l y ' , 'cruel', 'aggressive', 'trecherous', 'deceitful',

20

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN

EUROPE

'unreliable', 'ridiculous', lustful'- prevailed while the belief that the Turks are undefeatable vanished (Kuran-Bu^oglu 2003:28,2005:26). Boris M i o ö i n o v i c , the Director of the Pokrajinski Muzej Ptuj, in Slovenia, in his article entitled, "Begegnung zwischen Orient und Okzident" draws attention to the different stances of European countries vis a vis the Ottoman Empire during the 17th century: Die gebildeten Schichten Europas im Zeitalter der Renaissance und des Barocks hatten großes Interesse an den außereuropäischen Kulturen" " . . . d a s e t h n o l o g i s c h e I n t e r e s s e galt i m b e s o n d e r e n M a ß e d e n Z u s t ä n d e n , V o r g ä n g e n und S t r u k t u r e n i m O s m a n i s c h e n R e i c h , d a s f ü r viele e u r o p ä i s c h e S t a a t e n e i n e g r o ß e B e d r o h u n g d a r s t e l l t e . " . . . . " i n F r a n k r e i c h , in d e n N i e d e r l a n d e n und in E n g l a n d w a r d i e e t h n o l o g i s c h e A u s e i n a n d e r s e t z u n g w e n i g e r b e l a s t e t als in Italien, im R e i c h u n d in d e r H a b s b u r g e r M o n a r c h i e , da diese Staaten keine Kriege gegen die O s m a n e n führten, sondern, im Gegenteil, mitunter sogar freundschaftliche und nutzbringende w i r t s c h a f t l i c h e B e z i e h u n g e n zu i h n e n u n t e r h i e l t e n . " 1 ( M i o c i n o v i c

1992:10) This difference of attitude towards the Ottomans and their culture in the countries mentioned above by Boris MioCinoviC during the 16th and 17th centuries can also be traced within the representations and the image of the Turk in those countries as the f e w examples taken from the British sources below will justify.

II. Representations of the Turks in British Sources of Early Modern Age In comparison to Germany and some other continental countries Britain being a far away country to the Ottoman Empire had almost no direct contact with the Turks until the end of the 16th century. The English didn't participate in crusades like their continental neighbours on a large scale either, but there were some pilgrimages undertaken by pious Englishmen during which they had to cross through the Ottoman lands. However news about the Turks seem to have circulated in various forms and for various purposes. The profile of the agents of information was as important as the information itself

' "The educated people in Europe during the time of the Renaissance and the Baroque showed great interest in non-European cultures" "the ethnological interest was especially devoted to the state of affairs, events and structures in the Ottoman Empire, which was considered a serious threat for many European countries." "The ethnological debate in the Low countries and in England was less charged than it was in Italy, in Germany and in the Habsburg Monarchy, as the former didn't wage war against the Ottomans, but entertained friendly and profitable commercial relationships with them."(Miocinovic 1992:10) (translation is mine.)

THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN

SPEAKING

SPACES

21

as the news was subjected to individual interpretation and manipulation. There were individual travellers w h o wrote about their own impressions of the country and its people. There were also British officials w h o were attached to certain companies who provided valuable information for merchants of their country. One of those companies was the Turkie Company later changed to the Levant Company.

whose name was

This company was founded as a trade

firm in 1581 and served between Britain and the Ottoman Empire for over 250 years. There were also British Ambassadors whose correspondence provided guidelines for the British people w h o were planning to engage in any kind of bussiness with the Turks. A m o n g them knowledge provided by Sir T h o m a s Roe was worth mentioning as it highlighted the political situation in the O t t o m a n E m p i r e and covered extensive information about the country (Artemel 1995: 189). Another important source of information was Sir Paul Rycaut's book, entitled, The Present State of the Ottoman Empire which was published in 1666, in London. Sir Paul Rycaut was the Secretary General in the British Embassy between 1660-1678. His book concentrated on the Turkish politics, government, religion, customs and principles of the Turkish State. Rycaut tried to understand the essences and motivations behind these institutions through setting up an empathy with the Ottomans and describing his analyses to his readers rather than reiterating the preconceived ideas about the Ottomans as A s h f i r a k m a n points out in her article on "Sir Paul Rycaut and His Influence on the 18th Century T h o u g h t on the Turks." f i r a k m a n summarizes in this article the principles that the Ottoman State had observed as it was described by Sir Paul Rycaut: 'absoluteness of the e m p e r o r ' , 'quickness and severity of j u s t i c e ' , 'oppression and subjection of p e o p l e ' , 'absence of private property', 'prevention of the emergence of a noble class'. (Cirakman 2003:227-244). T h i s book w a s very influential in E u r o p e as it m a d e

several

publications in 1668, 1670, 1675, 1680, 1682, 1686, 1700, and was translated into French (1670), Italian (1672), Polish (1678), German (1694) and Russian (1741). However Ash f i r a k m a n furthermore comments that the principles mentioned above were then taken out of their context by several writers as Tott, Eton, Habesci, Montague, Hunter, Porter and Montesquieu and were used as explanations for the Ottoman E m p i r e ' s decline after the seventeenth century, (ibid.)

22

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

George de la Chapelle's Engravings, Paris 1648. (Museum für Angevvamdte Kunst, Wien)

The representation of the Turks in Sir Paul Rycaut's book (1666) and their representation in David Schuster's compilation (1664), mentioned above, that were both published in mid 1660s exhibit a great contrast. T h e explanation of these diverging images can be found in historical conditions,

THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN

SPEAKING

SPACES

23

under which these t w o books were published. T h e relationships between Germany and the Ottoman Empire in 1660s were hostile as they were waging war against each other while there were profitable trade relationships going on between Britain and the Ottoman Empire in those years. Another important group of people w h o functioned as intermediaries w h o carried information about the Turks to Britain were Italian visitors, among w h o m there were humanists and commissionars of Pope, as Siiheyla Artemel points out in her article mentioned above (Artemel 2003:151). The book of one of those visitors, Poggio Bracciolini's (1380-1459), entitled De Varietate

Fortunae

that depicted the Tatar Emperor T i m u r ' s life was of

particular interest f o r its analysis of humanist attitudes. In this context Artemel lists a number of characteristic features that occur consistently in humanist thought: faith in the ideal of the educated man as a well-developed individual and responsible citizen through the study of ancient literary and scholarly texts, interest in history as a means of analysing political power and for reforming the state and society, emphasis on the ability of the human will to shape history, the recognition of the supremacy of reason for interpreting the meaning of life and the universe, and finally, a secular Outlook that took note of the shared humanity of all men irrespective of the differences of nation, religion or creed. These characteristics were reflected in varying degrees and ways in the writings of the humanists on the Turks (ibid. 150). A m o n g the agents who provided knowledge about the Turks and their country during the Early Modern Age the authors of travellogues occupy an important place. Nazan Aksoy in her book, entitled Ronesans

ingilteresi'nde

Tiirkler (The Turks in Renaissance England) mentions several travel writers and points out that the travellogues of the British visitors to the Ottoman Empire written during the first half of the 16th century inclined to repeat the existing Image of the Turk/Muslim whereas the ones written in the second half of that century were based on true observations and perceptions and provided fruitful information about the Ottoman state order and lifestyle, among whose accounts two examples seem to have attracted great attention among the British readers. These are the travellogues of Fynes Moryson and T h o m a s D a l l o m . Moryson was a British intellectual w h o had studied at Cambridge University and who was in command of Italian, German, French and Latin. In his travellogue Moryson had described the Ottoman politics, state order, warfare, geography, natural resources, important political events of the time, palace e m p l o y e e s and their w a g e s , commercial life, religion, m o n u m e n t s , churches, ruins, t o m b s , houses, bazaars, f o o d , and clothing styles

he

had observed during his stay in the Ottoman Empire (Aksoy

24

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

2 0 0 4 : 5 2 ) . T h e o t h e r i m p o r t a n t British travel w r i t e r , T h o m a s D a l l o m 1 h a d b e e n c o m m i s s i o n e d by the British E m p r e s s Q u e e n Elizabeth to t a k e t h e o r g a n he had p r o d u c e d to the T u r k i s h Sultan M e h m e t III as a present. T h e interesting side of this a c c o u n t is the a d v i c e Thomas D a l l o m had received f r o m the British A m b a s s a d o r H e n r y L e l l o in Istanbul b e f o r e p r e s e n t i n g the gift of t h e Q u e e n to the S u l t a n . T h i s l o n g p a r a g r a p h in D a l l o m ' s text w h i c h w a s full of w a r n i n g s that A k s o y had translated in her b o o k , illustrates h o w c a r e f u l and o b e d i e n t an e n v o y m u s t h a v e been in t h e p r e s e n c e of t h e Sultan in o r d e r n o t to e n r a g e or irritate h i m , as a n y s u c h m i s b e h a v i o u r c o u l d h a v e d e t r i m e n t a l results f o r t h e British c o m m e r c i a l interests in the O t t o m a n E m p i r e (ibid. 5 4 ) . T h e British A m b a s s o r ' s a d v i c e to T h o m a s D a l l o m is r e m a r k a b l e as it i n d i c a t e s h o w m u c h a t t e n t i o n w a s paid to t h e d e t a i l s of p r o t o c o l e by t h e B r i t i s h in o r d e r n o t t o spoil the s e n s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n t h e t w o countries. A s t h e e x a m p l e s d e s c r i b e d h e r e h a v e a l s o i n d i c a t e d t h e r e w a s a real interest in Britain in the O t t o m a n E m p i r e , t h e c o u n t r y a n d its p e o p l e a n d t h e r e w a s a l s o a b u n d a n t i n f o r m a t i o n r e l a t e d to t h i s t o p i c w h i c h w a s u s e d b y d r a m a t i s t s , p l a y w r i g h t s a n d p o e t s w h o h a d c a s t t h e m i n t o v a r i o u s literary g e n r e s in w h i c h t h e i m a g e w a s s p r e a d t o literary c i r c l e s a n d t o a b r o a d e r p u b l i c . T h e T u r k i s h t h e m e s w e r e particularly p o p u l a r a m o n g the p l a y w r i g h t s of the E l i z a b e t h a n stage. The m o s t f a m o u s a m o n g t h e T u r k i s h p l a y s w r i t t e n b y t h e B r i t i s h a u t h o r s in t h e

16th c e n t u r y w a s C h r i s t o p h e r

Marlowe's

Tamburlaine the Great. First part of this play w a s written in 1 5 8 7 - 8 8 . Its s e c o n d part f o l l o w e d u p o n p u b l i c i n t e r e s t , in t h e s u m m e r of 1 5 8 8 . T h e t h e m e of t h e s t o r y w a s t a k e n f r o m t h e h i s t o r y , it illustrates t h e v i c t o r y of the T a t a r E m p e r o r T i m u r ( T a m b u r l a i n e ) w h o had d e f e a t e d the O t t o m a n E m p e r o r Sultan B a y e z i d at t h e battle of A n k a r a in 1412. In the play T i m u r w a s presented as t h e ideal m o d e l of a M a c h i a v e l l i a n prince. A c h a r i s m a t i c l e a d e r of o b s c u r e o r i g i n s , h e rises to p o w e r by his o w n ability or virtus a l o n e ( A r t e m e l 2003: 157). B y his ability to b e n d history he represents the non-providential s c h e m e a d v o c a t e d by P o g g i o a n d M a c h i a v e l l i although there are a l s o r e f e r e n c e s to T i m u r as the ' s c o u r g e of G o d ' w h o w o u l d punish the T u r k s w h i c h alludes to the providential s c h e m e of C h r i s t i a n i t y (ibid. 158). Bayezid is s h o w n in t h e play as t h e c a p t i v e of T i m u r w h o a s k s h i m w h a t he w o u l d h a v e d o n e with T i m u r if he himself h a d w o n t h e battle. B a y e z i d a n s w e r s that he w o u l d h a v e p u t T i m u r into an iron c a g e a n d s h o w h i m to the w h o l e w o r l d w i t h i n this c a g e . U p o n this T i m u r o r d e r s his m e n an iron c a g e and locks B a y e z i d inside it. In this c o n t e x t Linda M c J a n n e t

1 In A k s o y , N a z a n . T . Bent (ed.). Earlx Vnvages p. 52.

and Travels

in the Levant,

1913, (1990) 2 0 0 4 ,

THE ENGLISH AND G E R M A N SPEAKING in her article, entitled, "Bayezid I in Tamburlaine Historie:

C i t i n g the T u r k s o w n C h r o n i c l e s "

SPACES

25

and Knolles's Gene rail 1

refers to t w o d i f f e r e n t

evaluations of B a y e z i d ' s attitude: T h e British literary historian Richard Knolles interprets it as a "wicked pride" in his above mentioned book, and considers it as a "cardinal sin" whereas Evliya Qelebi and Saadettin, two Ottoman historians interpret it as "candor", "openness of his heart" and "direct speaking". This brings McJannet to the classic example how the " s a m e " tale can be made to express the values of the teller. This also shows the impact of the different cultural norms and values in shaping images. Coming back to Marlowe's play w e can state that there are also other humiliating scenes in which Bayezid, the Sultan of the Turks was used as a foot-stool for Timur and was insulted in every possible way. At the end of the play Bayezid kills himself by hitting his forehead on the walls of the cage, his wife also kills herself. They both display proud characters by not putting up with T i m u r ' s vile servitute and humiliations. This play exhibits the great influence Machiavelli had exerted in Britain during the 16th century, especially with his f a m o u s book the Prince.

His

character traits were often associated with those of the Ottoman Sultans as it was also mentioned above. However in Tamburlaine

the Great the Tatar

Emperor Timur was associated with Machiavelli w h o had the power to defeat the Turks, w h o were considered the 'terror of the world'. Nazan Aksoy in her article, "Turks in Elizabethan Drama" interprets the depiction of the defeat of the Turks in the battle of Ankara in 1412 in Marlowe's play as follows: this defeat had much more significance for Marlowe's audience than it was usually realized. The defeat of Turks was something sensational; Christians rejoiced over it as they did when the Turkish fleet lost the battle of Lepanto in 1571. To celebrate this victory on the sea, bonfires were lit, and in Venice prisoners were set at liberty. (Aksoy 2003:99) Artemel also mentions the celebrations and festivities that took place after the victory in Lepanto. She states that King James I had written a poem called Lepanto

in 1585 to celebrate the victory of the joint Christian fleet.

Within this context Artemel writes:

1 Paper presented at the IDEA Conference on English Studies, at the Section: "Discourses and Representations of the Orient in the Early Modern England", at Bogazici University, on April 26th, 2006.

26

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E the anxiety and concern Celt at the encroachment of the T u r k s into Europe had been expressed in the multitude of tracts, pamphlets, newsbooks and ballads, published to c o m m e m o r a t e significant battles or events. More than twenty extant plays were written during the period 1580. 4 2 have plots or subplots specifically concerned with Turkish affairs, and some now lost may have treated Turkish or Oriental themes. Apart from these, there were masques, pageants and other forms of entertainment dealing with or impersonating the Turks. (Artemel 1995:189-194)

The popularity of the "Lepanto theme" in Britain which I consider as the second milestone in the Ottoman relationships with Europe in the Early Modern Age can be explained with Britain's close relationship with Italian intellectuals, as the European fleet's victory in this sea war against the Ottomans was actually found its resonance in Mediterranean countries and not so much in Central Europe. Coming back to the historical theme in Marlowe's play, the victory of the Tatar Emperor Timur also had another significance for Europeans: It had delayed the capture of Constantinople by the Turks for fifty years, as Sultan Bayezid's intention was to seize the capitol of the East Roman Empire after the battle of Ankara, and he had had a castle built for this purpose on the Anatolian shore of the city. However the result of the Ankara battle put an end to this intention. A further important point to be underlined in this play is the fact that Timur's victory was not only over the Turkish nation, but over their religion as well, as Timur is challenging Mahomet, the Prophet of the Turks in the following lines; Now Casene, W h e r e ' s the Turkish Alcoran, And all the heaps of superstitious books Found in the temples of that Mahomet Whom I have thought a God? They shall be burnt. In vain I see men worship Mahomet My sword hath sent millions of Turks to hell, Slew all his priests, his kinsmen and his friends, And yet I live untouched by Mahomet. (v.i,172ff)

In spite of the fact that Timur himself was a Mahomedan, Marlowe had chosen to personify him as a challenger of this religion, with whom the Christian audience could more easily identify. Towards the end of the 16th century many other important plays that depicted the Turks and Turkish historical themes were written in Britain. Some of these are; Thomas Kyd's Soliman Greene's Alphonsus King of Aragon (\59\),

and Perseda

(1588) Robert

G. Peele's The Turkish

Mahomet

and Hiren the Fair Greek (1594) and The Tragical Reign of Selimus (1594). In most of these plays the l urks are portrayed as villains. Turkish literary

THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN

SPEAKING

SPACES

27

critics, like Orhan Burian and Hamid Dereli who wrote about the Turkish characters in the Elizabethan stage state that Turks stand for cruelty, treachery, lust and ferocity. However other critics, like Louis Wann and Aksoy maintain that the Turks are generally represented as valiant, proud-spirited and cruel but there is almost universal admiration for their valor. Aksoy furthermore states that in some cases the authors like their Turkish characters so much that they couldn't resist the temptation of saving their souls by converting them to Christianity. The noble Korkud in Selimus and virtuous Lucinda in Fletscher's The Knight of Malta are cases in point (Aksoy 2003:205-208).

Conclusion After having elaborated upon several examples of the image of the Turk -as represented in Carnival plays, popular stories, church sermons, chronicles, compilations, Baroque tragedies, Embassy notes, travellogues, ballads and history plays- within their sociocultural contexts in German and British sources of the Early Modern Age, I would like to conclude that although some common features of otherness can be detected in both countries at particular points in history that signify major historical events (1453, 1571, 1683) there are also great divergences which can be linked to specific socio-cultural sensitivities due to the structural changes of communal institutions (Martin Luther's case), or to the demands of national interests (David Schuster's and Thomas Allom's case) in those countries. My second conclusion based on the examples that I have listed here is that the Turks seem to have played various roles in Europe,- some of which were an admirable model of a statesman and at the same token a serious threat for the ruling classes of Europe (the Carnival plays), a bad and dangerous character, a murderer, religious other undermining the integrity of Christianity (Die Welt des Hans Sachs, Heerpredikt wider den Türken), representative of a great nation whose traditions and way of life can be taken as a modell (Newe Chronika Türkischer Nation, The Present State of the Ottoman Empire), a tyrant, Machiavellian figure (Mahomets und Türken Greuel, Tamburlaine), a sensual character devoted to excessive lust (Catharina von Georgien), a proud spirited ruler who is admired for his valor (Selimus, The Knight of Malta) - and according to the agenda of the period these images have been used for particular purposes, sometimes he appeared as a person to be afraid of, at other times as a person to be admired and appreciated, but mostly as an "other", as an enemy, against whom religious, ethnological and newly emerging national identities could be shaped.

28

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E B e these i m a g e s favourable or unfavourable they never e m e r g e d

naturaly, but were mostly constructed in line with the a g e n d a of the day, spread through the media of that particular period, and were almost a l w a y s ideological.

References Aksoy, Nazan (1990) 2004. Rönesans

ingilteresi'nde

Türkler,

Istanbul: Bilgi

University Press. —

2003 "Turks in Elizabethan Drama", Historical Century

to the Present

¡mage

of the Turk:

15th

(ed.) Mustafa Soykut, pp. 197-210. Istanbul: Isis

Press. A r t e m e l , Siiheyla. 2003 " I he View of the Turks from the Perspective of the Humanists in Renaissance England", Historical Century

to the Presen!,

Image

of the Turk:

15th

(ed.) Mustafa Soykut, pp. 150-173. Istanbul: Isis

Press. —

1995 "The Popular Image of the Turk during the Renaissance in England", Journal

of Mediterranean

Studies B.5, Nr. 2. (eds.) Kate Fleet & Ildiko Beller

Hann, pp. 188-208. Mediterranean Institut Malta: Malta University Press. Bell, Arthur et. al. 1994 World Literature:

Early

Origins

to 1800. New York:

Barrons. C i r a k m a n , A s h . 2003 "Sir Paul Rycaut and His Influence on the 18th Century Thought on the Turks" Present,

Historical

Kleinlogel, Cornelia. 1989 Exotik-Erotik deutschen

Image of the Turk:

15th Century

to the

(ed.) Mustafa Soykut, pp. 227-244. Istanbul: Isis Press. Literatur

derfrühen

zur Geschichte

Neuzeit

(1453-1800).

des Türkenbildes

in der

Bochumer Schriften zur

deutschen Literatur 8., Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. Kocadoru, Yüksel. 1990 Die Türken: Studien zu Ihrem Bild und Seiner in Österreich

Geschichte

(Doktorarbeit). Klagenfurt.

Kula, Onur Bilge. 1992 Alman

Kültürü'nde

Türk

imgesi.

Mersin: (^ukurova

University Press. Kuran-Bur90glu, Nedret. 2007 "Turkey", Imagology: Literary

Representation

of National

Characters,

The Cultural Construction

and

(eds.) Manfred Beller & Joep

Leerssen, pp. 254-258. Studia Imagologica B. 13. Amsterdam: Rodopi. —

2006 "Slikata za Turchinot vo Evropa, Vo Minatoto 1 Denes. Kritichko Patuvanje", The Balkan Image in the World, (ed.) Kata Kulavkova. (transl.) Marija Topuzovska & Jasmina Ilievska), pp. 117-134, Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Arts and Scicnces & Polish Academy of Sciences.

—

2005. Die Wandlungen

des Türkenbildes

in Europa. Zurich: Spur Verlag.

THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN

SPEAKING

SPACES

29

— 2003. "A Glimpse at various Stages of the Evolution of the Image of the Turk in Europe: 15th to 21 st Centuries", Historical Image of the Tujrk in Europe: 15th to the Present-Political

and Civilisational

Aspects, (ed.) Mustafa Soykut,

pp. 21-37. istanbul: Isis Press. — 2002 "L'Image des Turcs en Europe", Les chemins de la Turquie vers

l'Europe

(eds.) Pierre Chaball et Arnaud de Raulin, pp.67-81. Artois Presses Université. —

(ed.) 2000 The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration

of the

Republic in 1923 to 1990s, istanbul: Isis Press. — (ed.) 1999 "The Image of the Turk from 11 th to 20 th Centuries as reflected in literary and visual Sources", Journal of Marmara

University, Special Issue in

Honour of Professor Orhan Oguz, pp. 187-201. istanbul: Marmara University Press. McJannet, Linda. 2006 "Bayezid I in Tamburlaine and Knolles's Generali

Historie:

Citing the Turks own Chronicles" (forthcoming paper) Discourses and Representations of the Orient in the Early Modern England. IDEA

Conference

on English Studies. Bogaziçi University, April 26th. M a r l o w e , Christopher. 1930 Tamburlaine

the Great,

(ed.) U.M.Ellis Fermor

London: Methuen and Co. M i o c i n o v i ë , Boris. 1992 Begegnungen

zwischen

Orient

und

Okzident,

p.10.

Slovenja: Pokrazinski Muzej Ptuj. Ökten, Kaan H. 2007 "Martin Luther'in Skolastik Karçitligr ve Reformasyon'a Etkileri" Philosophy

at Yeditepe.

(ed.) Saffet Babür, V. 6, pp. 189-219.

Istanbul: Yeditepe University Press. Soykut, Mustafa (ed.) 2003 Historical

Image of the Turk: 15th Century

to the

Present, istanbul: Isis Press. Ünlii, Selçuk. 1981 "Almau Edebiyati'nda Türk tmaji", Türk Diinyasi Nr. 15, pp.47-56. istanbul.

Araçtirmalari.

II THE REFLECTIONS OF THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE T U R K S IN T H E E U R O P E A N M E D I A O F T H E 18TH CENTURY1 An Analysis based on the Representation of the Activities o f the Ottoman Printing Press founded by Ibrahim Miiteferrika and Mehmet Said Efendi in 1727, and their Reception by the Europeans

Introduction It is a general belief in Turkey that Turks can not represent themselves properly in the outside world, particularly in the western world. Another deeply rooted public impression is that the Europeans are reluctant in trying to learn about the Turks' achievements, their intellectual life and their life style. Instead, they reiterate the clichés and the crude negative stereotypes about the Turks that they had inherited from their ancestors. These matters are considered to be the main underlying reasons of several misunderstandings, misinterpretations and miscommunication between the European communities and the Turks. In this paper I would like to elaborate upon the reportings of the European newspapers, literary journals and some history books published in the 18th century, that is the written media of that particular century, on the intellectual activities of the Turks, and on the presentation of the achievements of the Ottoman Printing Press to the European public by an Ottoman subject that seem to prove the reverse of the above mentioned impressions of the Turks. Two interesting sources will form the frame of this paper. The first one is Franz Babinger's book, entitled, Stambuler Buchwesen im 18. Jahrhundert which was published in Leipzig, in 1919. 2 The second source is a document

Paper presented at the International Symposium, entitled The Image of "Turks" on the Territory of the present-day Slovenia and the Image of "Franks" in Osmanlis, at the Faculty of Arts of Slovenja University, on September 28th, 2007. This book was translated into Turkish by myself and was published in Istanbul by the History Foundation under the following title: Kuran-Bur^oglu, Nedret (trans.) 2004. Miiteferrika ve Osmanh Matbaasi-18. Yiizyilda Istanbul'da Kitabiyat (Franz Babinger); Osmanlt Matbaasi'mn Kurulu§u ve Baglangici (Ibrahim Miiteferrika), istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yayinlari.

32

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

in Latin, entitled Origio

et Principium

Typographia

Otthomanica

(The

Foundation and Beginning of the Ottoman Printing Press), found in the State Archive of the Netherlands in the section "Turkish Documents until 1811", a few years ago by a dutch colleague, Machiel Kiel and was published with the translation of a short commentary of him within the same book mentioned above, in 2004. This document that describes the first twelve books of the Ottoman Printing Press was handwritten in Latin by Ibrahim Miiteferrika, one of the two founders of this Press, in 1733, with the intention to give a detailed information about the Press to the intellectual circles of Europe.

I. The Awakening of the European Interest in the Turkish Intellectual Life, Turkish Life Style and Habits in the 18th Century. Franz Babinger (1891-1967), the German Turchologist, historian and scholar of Islam of the 20th Century describes in his book the foundation of the first Turkish Printing Press in 1727 by Mehmet Said Efendi, the son of Yirmisekiz (Jelebi Mehmet Efendi, the Turkish Ambassador to Paris, and his partner Ibrahim Miiteferrika (1674-1746) who was a Hungarian unitarianist who had converted to Islam. In his book Babinger gives detailed information about the publications that were accomplished by this Press, as well as by other Printing Offices of Istanbul in the 18th century that had followed Miiteferrika's Press. The European media reportings of the 18th century, quoted in Babinger's book, clearly indicate that the European literary circles were diligently following what was going on in the Ottoman Empire in terms of publications and books, and were interested in the themes and topics that were covered by them. 1 That was at least the case for the 18th century.

1 Babinger, Franz. 1919. Stamhuler f ü r B u c h w e s e n und Schrifttum.

Buchwesen

im 18. Jahrhundert.

Leipzig: Deutscher Verein

THE INTELLECTUAL

L I F E OF T H E T U R K S

33

i. Yirmisekiz £elebi Mehmet Efendi's Delegation in France (1720-1721).

The reason why the interest of the Franks in the Ottomans, in general, and in their intellectual achievements, in particular, had grown in the 18th century could be explained by the attraction of the Europeans drawn through the pompous visit of Yirmisekiz £elebi Mehmet Efendi with his escort of

34

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

400 Ottoman soldiers and officials to Paris who was sent by Sultan Ahmed III as the Ambassador of the Ottoman Empire to France. Yirmisekiz f e l e b i Mehmet Efendi and his Delegation left Istanbul on October 7th, 1720 and returned back to the Ottoman Empire, on October 8th, 1721. His travelogue, also called the Embassy

Notes of Yirmisekiz

Mehmet Qelebi was translated

into French by J.CI. Galland, and published in 1757 in Paris.

This journey was a mutually interesting and fruitfull experience both, for the Franks and for the Ottomans and it was considered to be an important step in the Modernization of the Ottoman Empire. The Franks were enchanted by the ostentation and wealth of this company and were curious to learn about the culture, habits and customs of the Ottomans. With this visit Yirmisekiz £elebi Mehmet Efendi and his Delegation had created a different image of the Turk in Central European countries than the so-called 'cruel, ferocious and devastating Turk of the battlefields that had existed in the collective memory of the people in the Central European countries. The new one was the image of a 'knowledgeable, enlightened and civilized Turk with a fine culture and way of life'.

T H E I N T E L L E C T U A L L I F E OF THE

Yirmisekiz

Qelebi

Mehmet Efendi their iftar

and his dinner.

TURKS

companions

35

having

ii. T h e I m p a c t of the Interaction b e t w e e n the F r a n k s a n d the Ottomans after Yirmisekiz £ e l e b i M e h m e t Efendi's Visit to France M e h m e t £ e l e b i reports in his Travellogue

that the officials of the

y o u n g King Louis XV had asked f o r his kind permission to watch the Ottoman Delegation while they were eating, preaching and praying and that hundreds of women and men had come and sat on chairs and observed them until late at night ( R a d o 2 0 0 6 : 8 0 - 8 3 ) . T h e r e p e r c u s s i o n s of

these

o b s e r v a t i o n s were reflected in the T u r c h o p h i l y and T u r c h o m a n i a movements in Europe, that had started in France and soon spread all over Europe and beyond the Continent which were concretized in the f o r m of music, drama, paintings and engravings, and in Janissarian figures made of china that were designated as T u r q u e r i e s . Fairytales that were written in Europe in that century with oriental motifs was another impact of the interest in Orient and so was the discipline called 'Oriental Studies' that had emerged as a new research field in Europe.

36

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E There are three valuable collections of Turqueries in the vicinity of

Slovenia. These are in the I'Uij Castle, in the lower Austrian forest area and in the Museum of Pechtoldsdorf at Vienna made by the French engraver Georg de la Chapelle, the Flemish painter Jean Baptist Vanmour (1671-1737), and by the German painters F r a n / Hormann and Hans Gemminger. 1 The first two painters had accompanied the French Consul Charles de Ferriol in his Delegation at the Ottoman Empire. Jean Baptiste Vanmour also worked for the Dutch Consul Cornelis Calkoen and were commissioned to draw every scene that was deemed significant in the Delegation of the two Consuls. 2 On the other hand the Ottomans who were going through the T u l i p E r a , that extended from 1718 to 1730, were also inspired by the French life style, as well as by the architecture of their palasts, pavillions, by the design of their g a r d e n s . T h e y w e r e a m a z e d by various types of

European

entertainments, such as the ballet and the opera performances and admired some objects, such as clocks, china and mirrors which were described in detail by Y i r m i s e k i z M e h m e t £ e l e b i

in his Travellogue

?

Following

the

observations of the A m b a s s a d o r the Ottomans built similar pavillions and gardens in the area along the sweet waters of Istanbul, called as Sadabad. Going for outings along the parks, going on boat trips along the Goldenhorn, cultivating the gardens, growing valuable f l o w e r s , such as the tulips, hyacinths and narcissus and giving them special names became a fashion in the country, and turned into a habit of the Ottoman elites which was an impact of the western world.

II. The Foundation Phase of the Printing Press of Ibrahim Miiteferrika and Mehmet Said Efendi (1727) T h e foundation of the Turkish Printing Press, which should be evaluated within this context and seen as a loop of a chain of these mutual influences, generated through direct interaction of the t w o communities in peaceful terms, was an important achievement for the cultural life of the Turks. It was at the same time a brave initiative for the f o u n d e r s , M e h m e t Said Efendi and Ibrahim Miiteferrika, because several previous such attempts had been severely punished by the Sultan. ' Maximilain G r o t h a u s in Kuran-Huri;oglu, N e d r e t . 2 0 0 5 . Die Wandlungen des Tiirkenbildes in Europa. Zurich: Spur Verlag. p. 39. ^ For a detailed i n f o r m a t i o n about V a n m o u r ' s life and p a i n t i n g s see H o e n k a m p - M a z g o n , Marlies. 2002. Istanbul'da Holtunda Sarayi-I6I2'den beri Elgilik Binasi ve Sakinleri. pp. 5 3 - 5 6 . A m s t e r d a m : B o o m ; as well as Sint Nicolaas, Eveline, Duncan Bull, Giinsel R e n d a , GUI Irepoglu. 2003. Lale Devri'nin Bir Gorgii Tamgi: Jean-Baptiste. Istanbul: Ko5bank. 3 R a d o , §evket (ed.) 2006 (19761: =¡8-78.

THE I N T E L L E C T U A L LIFE OF THE

TURKS

37

However I must also note here, that this was not the first Printing Press that was founded in the Ottoman Empire. The first one had been founded in 1493 by the Jews, that is one year after the Sefardi Jews had taken refuge in the Ottoman Empire following their deportation f r o m Spain. T h e founders of the Jewish Press were David Nahmias and his son Samuel w h o took the concession of Sultan Bayezid II f o r setting up their Press. T h e first publication of this press was Arba'a

Turim

(Four

Commands,

1493)

(Babinger 2004:8). Seventy four years later, in 1567 the Armenians founded their Printing Press in the Surp Nigogos church in Edirnekapi which they were sharing with the Dominican monks in those days. T h e letters of that Press had been brought f r o m Venice. T h e founder of the Press was Apkar Tibir f r o m Sivas area and the first book they published was a simple Armenian alphabet, entitled Pokir Keraganutyan

gam aypperan (Kut, Tiire:5).

38

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E OF T H E T U R K IN

EUROPE

The Armenians were followed by the Greeks with their Press, in 1627. The Greeks founded their Printing Press within the premises of the Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul. The equipment and the letters of this Press had been brought from Britain. The founder was Patriarch Kyrillus Lukaris, who was known with his attempts of uniting the Greek Orthodox and Protestant churches (Babinger 2004:8). First book that was published in this Press had the title; Tu makariotatu ke sofotatu imon {Treatise on the virtuous Patriarchate of Alexandria Georgios ofParga). Strangely enough the Turks, that is the Muslim population of the Ottoman Empire were not allowed to set up their Printing Press until the second quarter of the 18th Century (1727). Various explanations were given for this prohibition; it was argued that the Printing Presses of the non-muslim subjects of the Empire had induced arguments and discussions among the members of those communities and had spoiled their harmony and that the Sultan wouldn't let this happen among his Moslem subjects. In other words, he was "protecting them from chaos". Another explanation for this ban was the belief that the holy books would "lose their sacredness" once they are printed instead of being handwritten. Besides, compared to the colourfully embellished calligraphy and gilded volumes the printed books and their dull "black letters looked so ugly" and "were not in tune with the fine taste of art of the century". Further prevention of the foundation of a Press came from the calligraphers who were afraid of losing their jobs, and from the guilds whose budget shares would have been lowered with the intrusion of a new guild into the system. These were the general explanations. However the concealed reason for this ban was most probably the concern of a potential threat for the Sultan of losing his power on his Moslem subjects who would have become enlightened and critical about various issues within the Empire through obtaining knowledge via publications and this would endanger the unity of their community. Being aware of all these arguments and concerns Ibrahim Muteferrika and Mehmet Said Efendi carefully convinced Sultan Ahmed III, his Grand Vizier Nev§ehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha and the Grand Mufti Abdullah and got their written permission as well as the support of the wise men of the Empire; comprising six old Chiefs of the armies of Rumelia and Anatolia, the two current Chiefs of both armies, five old Judges of Istanbul and the current Judge of the city, the Sheriff of Mekka and the representatives of the respected people of the Empire for their undertaking and started publishing in 1727. However it was clearly stated in the Hatt-i §erif, the Document of Consent given by Sultan Ahmed III. that the printing of the holy books of Islam, that is, Qur'an, the Hadith, the words of the Prophet Mohammed, as well as the Kelam, the Rules and the Fikih, the Interpretation of the Qur'an were not permitted.

THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE OF THE

TURKS

39

T o insure the legal status of the Press Ibrahim and Said published all these written d o c u m e n t s giving permission f o r this f o u n d a t i o n in the Introduction of the first book they had printed. This was the translation of an Arabic Dictionary written by Hamidoglu Ismail into Turkish by Kadi Mehmed el Vani. It was called after its translator as, Vankulu Dictionary.

Mehmet

Said Effendi

in Paris, oil on canvass done by Aved.

40

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

List of the First Publications of the Ottoman Printing Press (1727-1746)1 1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Vankulu Lugati (Vankulu Dictionary )\Sihdhu' I Cevheri\ 1729 L Tuhfetii'l Kibar fi Esfari'l Bihar (History of Maritim Wars of Turks) 1729 by Haci Halife. 2 H Terciime-i Tarih-i Seyyah der beyan-i Zuhur-i Agvaniyan ve Sebeb-i lnhidam-i Devlet-i §ahdn (War between Afghanistan and Persia and the Collapse of the Saffevite Empire) 1730 H Tarih-i Hind i Garbi (History of West India) 1729-1730 by Haci Halife. H Tarih-i Timur (History of Tamburlaine and the Scholarly World of Samarkand) 1730 by Nazmizade.H Tarih-i Misr-i Kadim ve Cedid (History of the Old and New Egypt)Sune 17th, 1730 by Suheyli Efendi.H Giil$en-i Hillefa (History of Khalifs and Ottoman Sultans){Hiilefa-yi Abbasiye] 1730 by Nazmizade. H Grammatica Gallico-Turcica / methodus facilis ac brevis as discendam Linguam Turcorum (Easy and Brief Way of Learning the Turkish Language) 1730 by the Jesuit Priest Johann Holdermann. L

Patrona Halil Revolt. 1730. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Usul-ii'l Hikem fi Nizamii'l Umem (War Methods used in the Western World) January 29th, 1732 by i.Miiteferrika. Sfii Fiiyuzat-i Miknatisiyye (The Magnetic Waves) February, 1732 compiled and edited by i.Miiteferrika. Sfii Cihanniimd (The Mirror of the World -Geography Book) July 3rd, 1732 by Haci Halife,completed by i.Miiteferika.U Takvim i Tevarih (World History) June 19th, 1733 by Haci Halife. u

' T h e b o o k s marked with an H are related to History, those marked with ' S c i ' are related to Science, those marked with ' G ' are related to G e o g r a p h y and those that are marked with L are Dictionaries or G r a m m a r Books. 2

' H a c i H a l i f e ' o r ' H a c i K a l f a ' arc the n a m e s that were given to Katip (Jelebi ( 1 6 0 9 - 1 6 5 7 ) by the E u r o p e a n s , to the f a m o u s Ottoman scholar of the 17th century. H e w a s k n o w n as historian, g e o g r a p h e r , c o s m o g r a p h e r and compiler as well as an enlightened researcher. Well-versed in O t t o m a n , Persian, Arabic and Latin Haci Halife was the author of several f a m o u s books that w e r e read not only in the O t t o m a n Empire but b e c a m e f a m o u s also in the western w o r l d . His huge collection of calligraphies and rare books w e r e bought after his death by the Dutch Consul Cornelis C a l k o e n and Marsigli. w h o had d o n a t e d them to Leiden a n d Bologna Universities, respectively. T h e Turkish/Ottoman Archives of these Universities comprise to a great extent by Haci H a l i f e ' s collection.

TURKS

41

Naima Tarihi1001-1070 {Naima's History 1592-1659)\o\ 1734; Vol II, Octobcr 1734 by Naima. H Tacu't-Tevarih 1735 by Saadettin. H

I, June

THE INTELLECTUAL

13. 14.

L I F E OF THE

Gap between! 735-1741 15. 16. 17. 18.

Tarih i Rd?id 1071-1134 (Raid's History 1660-1721) 2 Volumes 1741 by Ra§id H Qelebizade Tarihi 1134-1141 {(Qelebizade's History) 1741 by (,'elebi/ldcJi Ahval-i Gazavat der Diyar-i Bosna (History of the Wars in Bosnia) March 19th, 1741 by Omer Efendi. H Kitab-i Lisanti'l-Acem (Persian Grammar) October 12th, 1742 by §uuri. L

Ibrahim Miiteferrika died in 1746 As this list also indicates most of the books printed by the Press until Miiteferrika's death in 1746 were related to History (twelve books), one to Geography, one to Physics, one to War Science. There were also three books that were related to Languages, a Dictionary, two Grammar Books; one teaching the Turkish, and the other the Persian Grammar. The distribution of the topics, the focus on History, the choice of the Works of wellknown scholars of the time, and Miiteferrika's complementary additions and supplements — in the form of maps and essays providing extra scientific information — included in almost each work indicate a zealous man's attempt to do his best to spread knowledge and experiences to his people with the purpose of educating and enlightening through the provision of extensive accessible information.

III. Turkish Printing Press in the European Media The foundation process of the Press had been described in the European printed media of the 1730s in detail. We learn from these sources that some of the necessary equipment had been supplied by the Armenian and Greek Printing Presses in Istanbul and that six Turks had been sent to Leiden via Vienna who had there (40-50 Zentner) 2-2,5 tons of letterpressed. It was Cornelis Calkoen, the Consul of the Netherlands in the Sublime Porte who

42

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E

b o o k w r i t t e n by H a c i H a l i f e ( K a t i p Q'clchi)

had brought the letters with him to Istanbul (Kiel 2004: 63-70). It is also stated that Kazancizade Omer Aga (1725-1732), the Turkish Ambassador in Vienna, had commissioned a Protestant typesetter to work for the Press and that several Frenchmen had gone to Istanbul via Marseille to work in the Press. A s Babinger states there were constant innovations in the Press and particularly the Flemish Jews provided a great contribution. A m o n g them a German Rabbi f r o m Prag whose name was Jonas achieved great succes in letterpress. 1 As Franz Babinger cites in Stambuler

Buchwesen

im 18.

several European newspapers, listed in the Appendix I, such as Europaeische zur allgemeinen von gelehrten

Fama, Journal Literatur,

de Sgavans, Journal

Leipziger

Gelehrte

fir

Jahrhundert, Büsching,

Kunstgeschichte

Zeitungen,

Neue

und

Zeitungen

Sachen as well as tens of articles, essays and books written by

well known personalities of the time were published in Europe during the 18th century (Babinger 1919, 2004). They give information about the publications of the press, its authors and their lives, as well as the history of the press, its

' i n Babinger 2004 see Kundmann, Johann Christian. 1737. Rariora naturae et artis. Breslau; Ernesti, J.H.G. 1733. Die wohleingerichtete Buchdruckerey. Nürnberg. Liideke, Christoph Wilhelm. 1789. Handbuch der Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst, p. 43-62.

THE I N T E L L E C T U A L LIFE OF THE T U R K S

43

successive phases, its stagnation stages and turning points, and cues about the strategies of the printers, the prices of the books, the popularity of some publications in Europe and in the Ottoman Empire which reflect a sincere excitement and interest of the European authors in the intellectual life of the Ottomans. Most popular publications of the Press were the Works of Haci Halife (nr. 2, 4 , 1 1 , 1 2 in the List of Publications), the w e l l k n o w n

Ottoman

historian, geographer, c o s m o g r a p h e r and compiler. As the references in Journals and Books of the time, cited in Babinger's Book indicate, among them Cihanniima

(nr. 11) ranked as the best received work in European

circles. T h e Turkish Grammar

(nr. 8) which was written upon request of the

Europeans by the Jesuit Missionary Priest Johann Holdermann also seems to have attracted great interest in Europe. As the references show the

Histories

written by Ra§id, (,'clebi/iide and Ómer Efendi (nr. 1 5 , 1 6 , 17), as well as the t w o scientific Works of Ibrahim Müteferrika, Füyüzát-i 10), dealing with the Magnetic waves, and Usül-ü'l

Miknatisiyye

(nr.

Hikem ft Nizámü'l

Ümem

(nr. 9), dealing with the War Methods and Strategies used by the Europeans had also invoked interest in the readers of Europe (Babinger 2004). The Ottomans had lost a large area of land in Central Europe at the wars against the European forces towards the end of the 17th century, that ended with the Karlovi Treaty in 1699. This event lead Müteferrika, w h o was a technical minded man, to ponder about the reasons of this defeat and come to the conclusion that it was to a great extent caused by the outdated war methods that had been applied by the O t t o m a n s . Having this in mind í b r a h i m Müteferrika decided to write the book, entitled, Usül-ü'l

Hikem

fl

Nizámü'l

Ümem to share his research on the modern war methods and technology that were applied by the Europeans with the Ottoman readership. A f u r t h e r indication of the European public's interest in the Works of the Müteferrika Press is the lively translation activity that w e can follow in Babinger's book. A m o n g them the f a m o u s book CihannUma

(The Mirror

of the World)

(nr.

11) of Haci H a l i f e w a s translated into L a t i n , G e r m a n and

French,

Müteferrika's book Usül-ü'l Hikem f i Nizámü'l

Ümem (War Methods

used in

World) (nr. 9) was translated into French and German.

History

of Saadettin (nr. 14) was translated into Italian and Latin, Qelebizade

Tarihi

the Western 1134-1141,

Ahval-i

Gazavát

der Diyár-i Bosna, the Histories

of Qelebizade

and Ó m e r Efendi (nr. 16,17) were rendered into G e r m a n and English, Nazmizáde's Gül§en-i Hülefá (History ofKhalifs

and Ottoman Sultans) (nr. 7)

was translated into Russian and Haci Halife's Tuhfetü'l (History of Maritim

Kibárfl

Esfári'l

Bihar

Wars of Turks) (nr. 2) into English (Babinger 2004).

44

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E OF T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

Cihanniima 1732, the most famous cosmography book written b> Haci Halife (Katip Celebi)] After Ibrahim Müteferrika's death in 1746 a shift of interest can be detected in the choice of the Works to be printed. Rather than Works on History and Geography Scientific Works were preferred which also implies a paradigm shift, which can be read as a vision towards the future rather than the

T H E I N T E L L E C T U A L LIEE OF THE

TURKS

45

remembrance of the past. This in turn can be evaluated as the impact of the Modernization and the Enlightenment on the Ottoman Empire.

IV. The Turks' Self-Representation Based on The Publications Done in the 18th Century- Ibrahim Miiteferrika's Presentation of the Publications of His Printing Press In this part of my paper I would like to f o c u s on a handwritten f a c s i m i l e e n t i t l e d , Origio

et

Principium

Typographia

Otthomanica

( M i i t e f e r r i k a , ( 1 7 3 3 ) 2 0 0 4 : 6 3 - 7 5 ) f o u n d in the State A r c h i v e of the Netherlands in the Hague by my colleague Machiel Kiel while I was working on the translation of B a b i n g e r ' s book into Turkish, in 2001-2002. In this d o c u m e n t written in Latin Ibrahim Miiteferrika had listed the first 12 publications of the Press. This document is significant f r o m the point of view of representation of the Press to the European reading circles by its founder and owner. The document was written in Latin, in the language of the European nobility, obviously with the intention to appeal to the interests of the intellectual circles in Europe. Apart f r o m its language the following qualities of this document are worth mentioning: It was first of all innovative, as this type of self-representation was happening for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire. This was an attempt to show to Europeans what was being done and published in the Empire, that is to inform the outside world about self achievements of the Ottoman intellectual circles, to share the knowledge, but at the same time to market the intellectual products that were considered as valuable. This attitude was also unique and innovative for its time, as marketing was alien to the Ottomans, and it seems that it had served its purpose, as the interest in the collection of the books had grown in Europe as the proliferation of news about the Ottomans had also indicated. We have furthermore been informed by Franz Babinger that the prices of the books of the Ottoman Printing Press had quickly gone up. In addition to the qualities mentioned so far, ibrahim Miiteferrika's d o c u m e n t is i n f o r m a t i v e , transparent and objective. It starts with the foundation story of the Printing Press, in which Ibrahim tells his clever strategy of getting the necessary permissions f r o m the Sultan and f r o m the higher officials of the Empire and letting them write about the benefits the Printing Press would bring to the public, such as, easily dissemination of k n o w l e d g e and eligibility of books at l o w e r prices c o m p a r e d to the handwritten ones. Ibrahim also states in his text that those documents had

46

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OH THE TURK IN E U R O P E

been carefully included- word by word -in the Introduction of the first book, the Vankulu

Dictionary.

After that he gives detailed information about each

book that had been published until 1733- the date of this facsimile-. This information covers the names and contents of the books, the authors, the translators and their significance, the supplements that the owner of the Press had thought were necessary and appended to the Works that were published. T h e s e were extra m a p s , done by expert engravers, and other necessary complementary documents and magnets. Sizes and numbers of pages of each book as well as their prices were listed a m o n g the information given by Ibrahim. T h e fact that the prices were also mentioned shows us that the document was also pragmatic. The prices of the books at the time of their publication were given along with their current values, obviously with the aim of marketing and selling them to the interested people in Europe. T h e nature of the detailed information provided in this text gives the reader several clues about its author, that is the printer, the philosopher, the geographer and astronomer Ibrahim Miiteferrika and his personality, scientific precision, innovative vision and his creative bussiness mind. Finally, the fact that this document was found in the State Archive of the Netherlands indicates the close relationship of the Ottoman Empire to this country during the time of the Tulip Era. Machiel Kiel justifies this by adding the information that the autonomy of Holland had first been recognized by the Ottomans in 1612, that is thirty-six years before its recognition by other European countries which was finally actualized in 1648.

Conclusion The contents of the sources of representations and the indications about the Europeans' reception of them in the 18th century , that I have tried to elaborate upon in this paper, have proved that the t w o assumptions of the Turks; regarding the inability to represent themselves and the disinterestedness of the Europeans concerning the intellectual achievements of the Turks were not relevant for the 18th century. On the contrary, there was a real interest on the side of the Europeans to learn about all kinds of activities that were going on in the Ottoman Empire, and there was a sincere attempt of the Turks/- or better, of an enlightened l urk, with a modern vision- of introducing the intellectual properties of the Turks and sharing their achievements with their European counterparts. However as we know f r o m the History, until the 18th century the Ottoman Empire exercised a great influence in Europe and was considered an undefeatable power until the Treaty of Karlovi in 1699. Thus the

THE INTELLECTUAL

LIEE OF THE

TURKS

47

lively interest of the Europeans in the Ottomans up to that time could be interpreted as an attempt to be well informed about the "other", an attempt to define " o n e ' s own position vis-a-vis the other". The aim could be to closely keep track of the "other" w h o either might be a modell and therefore worth being f o l l o w e d , or w h o might be a potential threat and therefore must be watched out. A similar attitude towards the Turks in Europe can be observed after the Turkish W a r of Independence (1919-1922) fought against European forces, w h o had occupied the country at the end of World War I. T h e W a r of Independence ended with the Proclamation of the Turkish Republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatiirk on October 29th, 1923. Following this significant event the publications about the T u r k s and the newly f o u n d e d Turkish Republic proliferated in Europe which justifies this evaluation. However in the course of time the attraction has subsized and Turkey has lost its position as a center of attention in Europe, and in spite of the existence of innumerable and fast means of communication in our time which cannot be compared with the ones that existed in the 18th century, there still seems to be a lack of communication or misunderstandings as well as failure in representation within the scope of relationships between Europe and Turkey, as the "openended discussions" among the member countries of the European Union about Turkey's integration also indicate.

References Babinger, Franz. 2004 MUteferrika ve Osmanli Matbaasi-18. Yiizyilda Istanbul'da Kitabiyat. Nedret Kuran-Bur§oglu (trans.) Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yayinlari. 1919 Stambuler Buchwesen im 18. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Deutscher Verein fur Buchwesen und Schrifttum. Hoenkamp-Mazgon, Marlies. 2002 Istanbul'da Hollanda Sarayi-1612'den beri elgilik binasi ve sakinleri. Amsterdam: Boom. Kiel, Machiel. 2004 "The MUteferrika Press in The Hague/Holland" (The Hague, Rijksarchief, Legatiearchief Turkije tot 1811, No. 1090) MUteferrika ve Osmanli Matbaasi-18. Yiizyilda Istanbul'da Kitabiyat (Franz Babinger); Osmanli Matbaasi'mn Kurulu§u ve Ba§langici (Ibrahim MUteferrika), Kuran-Bursoglu, Nedret (trans. & ed.) pp. 63-70. Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yaymlan. —

Kuran-Bur^oglu, Nedret. (trans.) 2004 MUteferrika ve Osmanli Matbaasi-Itt. YUzyilda Istanbul'da Kitabiyat (Franz Babinger); Osmanli Matbaasi'mn Kurulu$u ve Ba$langici (Ibrahim MUteferrika), Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yayinlari.

48

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

—

2005 Die Wandlungen

des Türkenbildes

in Europa. Zürich: Spur Verlag.

Kut, Turgut, Fatma Türe, (ed.l 1996 Yazmadan Miihendishane, Müteferrika,

Üskiidar.

Ibrahim.

2004

Müteferrika,

p. 5. istanbul: Yapi Kredi Bankasi Yayinlari. (1733)

Otthomanica", Müteferrika Kitabiyat

Basmaya:

"Origio

ve Osmanli

(Franz Babinger); Osmanli

et

Principium

Matbaasi-18.

Matbaasi'nin

Typographia

Yüzyilda Kurulu^u

Istanbul'da ve

Ba§langici

(Ibrahim Müteferrika), Kuran-Bur^oglu, Nedret (ed.). pp. 63-75. istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt Yayinlari. Rado, §evket. (ed.) 2006 (1976) Paris'te Qelebi'nin

Fransa

Bir Osmanli

Seyahatnamesi.

Sefiri-Yirmisekiz

Mehmet

Istanbul: Türkiye i§ Bankasi Kültür

Yayinlari. Sint Nicolaas, Eveline, Duncan Bull, Günsel Renda, Gül irepoglu. 2 0 0 3 Devri'nin

Bir Görgii Tanigi: Jean-Baptiste.

Toderini, Giambattista. 1990 tbrahlm

Müteferrika

Laie

Istanbul: Ko^bank. Matbaasi

ve Türk

Matbaaciligi.

Rikkat Kunt (trans.). §evket Rado (ed.). istanbul: Yayin Matbaacilik.

Appendix Articles, Essays, Journals and Books, cited in Babinger (1919) that reported about the Printing Press of the Turks and its Publications in Europe in the 18th Century Beckmann, Johan. (Nov.) 1768. "Nachricht von der Errichtung und dem Zustande der Buchdruckerey in Constantinopel u m s Jahr 1735" Hannoverische Magazin. In Gjörgwells, Karl Kristofer. 17f>ü- Svenska Bibliotekett. p.18Büsching. P. 32-33. Calza, Giuseppe. 1794. "Delle stamperie dei Turchi", Saggio sula religione dei Maometani. P. 171 172 Celsius, M a g n u s Ol. 175 1. Historia bibliothecae Stockholmensis. P. 195-205. Holmiae. C h a u v i n , Victor. (? )"Notcs pour l'histoire de l'imprimerie à Constantinople", P. 255-262. Diez, Friedrich. (1751-1817) ( A m b a s s a d o r of Prussia at the S u b l i m e Porte) (handwritten) List of Publications of the first Printing Press of Istanbul, A 4, 124, Handwritings Section of the Royal Library in Berlin. D ' O h s s o n , Ignaz Mouradgea. 1787. Tableau general de l'Empire Ottoman. V. 1, P. 298-302, Paris. D o n a d o , Giambattista. 1688. Osservazioni della Letteratura de'Turchi.Venezia: Andrea Poletti. Ernesti, J.H.G. 1733. Die wohleingerichtete Europäische Fama. 1731. Leipzig.

Buchdruckerey.

Nürnberg.

Heumann, Christoph August. 1 7 2 9 . "Oratio qua auroram musis amicam Constantinopoli nupcr ortam contemplatur", Poikile. P. 295 foli. Journal des Sgavans 1742. P. 48-252, Amsterdam. Journal fir Kunstgeschichte und zur allgemeinen Literatur. 1787. V. 14, P. 323. Kundmann, Johann Christian. 1737. Rariora naturae et artis. Breslau. Leipziger

Gelehrte

Zeitungen.

1730. P. 305.

THE

INTKLLECTUAL

LIFE

OF THE

TURKS

49

Lesser, Friedrich Christian . 1 7 4 0 . Typographia jubilans, d.i. kurzgefaßte Historie der Buchdruckerey. Leipzig. Lüdeke, Christoph Wilhelm. ¡789. Handbuch der Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst. P. 43-62. Leipzig. Meninki, Bernhard Freiherr von. 1 7 8 0 . Lexikon arabico-persico-turcicum. P. LXXXVII foli.. Vienna. M u r r , Christoph Gottlieb von. 1 7 8 7 . Journal zur Kunstgeschichte und zur allgemeinen Literatur. Ch. 14, P. 323-332, Nürnberg. Neue Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen. 1729. P. 93. S c h n u r r e r , C h r i s t o p h F r i e d r i c h v o n . 1 7 8 8 . De typograhia turcica Constantinopolitana Oratio decani. Tübingen. Seyler, Georg Daniel. 1 7 4 0 . "De fatis artis typographicae in T u r c i a " , Oratio secularis. E l b i n g . Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wwissenschaften V. VII, p. 7597 6 0 , V . VIII, P. 215, V. X, P. 3-4, 316-317, V. XIII, P. 7 - 3 7 , V. X I V , P. 74-86, V. XVII, P. 157-174, V. X X , P. 460-470, V. XXVI, P. 339-350. Toderini, Giambattista. 1790. Literatur

der Türken.

Hausleutner, Königsberg. Toderini, Giambattista. 1787. Letteratura

Turchescha.

Wiener Jahrbücher

der Literatur.

V. 96, P. 104 107.

Transl. by Wilhelm Gottlieb Venice.

50

R E F L E C T I O N S O N T H E I M A G E O F T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

GRAMMAIRE T

u t r a o m

V

R

Q

V

c e r n a s

E

&

VAGÏI%'$

pour APPREND*.!

LA

L A m v i

TTKQ.VS

a » R e c u e i l d e s » v o m i » d e s v e r b e s , 5c d e s

Manierei

4 « parler les p l u s rjecetfaires a s a v o i r j p t e e u r s jDîalogwes f a œ i i

DCC,

XXX

French translation of the hook, entitled Grammatica Gallìco-Turcica written by the Jesuit Priest Johann Holdermann.

1730,

T HH INTELLECTUAL

L I F E OF THE

TURKS

Fuyuzat-i Miknatisiyye 1732, book compiled and edited by Ibrahim Miiteferrika himself.

51

Ill

THE MEMORY BETWEEN REALITY AND IMAGINATION - A COMPARISON OF MEMOIRES OF JEAN-BAPTISTE VANMOUR (18th CENT.) & JEAN-LÉONGÉROME (19th CENT.) OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AS REPRESENTED IN THEIR PAINTINGS 1

Introduction Much is said about our memories and their reflection in literary, visual, audial and audio-visual artworks. Memories have private, public and ideological dimensions. Some researchers deal with their ontological

aspect,

with their coming into existence, how certain experiences are carved into the minds of the authors and become a part of their 'lebenswelt', others investigate the creativity

process

that oscillates between the author's mind

and the product, the moulding of the memories into the shape of an artwork, which are the stylistic

aspects

of it. There are other researchers who

concentrate on the semantic aspects of the artwork; how the meaning unfolds itself, initiated by the author, encoded and expressed through the signs, that are to be decoded, interpreted and received by the reader, which is the process

reception

that completes the meaning. As we all know interpretation

is a

complex phenomenon, that has been approached by scholars, like Friedrich Schleiermacher, Heidegger, Hans Georg Gadamer, Edmund Husserl, Wilhelm Dilthey, Paul Ricoeur, Hans Robert Jauss, Jiirgen Habermas, Roland Barthes, Umberto Eco, Stephen Greenblatt, Edward Said and several others who have concentrated on different aspects of the phenomenon. In this paper I will make use of the theories of some of these scholars and try to read the memories of two French painters who had been to the Ottoman Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries and had painted scenes from everyday life in Istanbul. The reason behind this selection lies my imagological research done on the 'Image of the Turk in Europe from its Emergence in the 11th Century to the Present T i m e ' , in which written and visual representations of the 18th and nineteenth century occupy an importrant ' Paper presented at the International Scientific Conference on "Memory and Interpretation" within the Scope of the European Research Project for Poetics and Hermeneutics, organized by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in Skopje on November 16th, 2007, and published in 2008 in Interpretations, edt. by Kata Kulavkova, Vol. 2, pp. 159-172, Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

54

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E

part. For this paper I have chosen six pictures, that is three f r o m the corpus of each of the two painters, Jean-Baptiste Vanmour and Jean Léon Gerome, that seemed to be best reflecting the tendencies of these authors. After having shown the pictures of each painter, I will try to read their memories reflected in those paintings and will establish the relationship of the paintings with reality, in terms of time and space. Finally I will give a brief information about the authors of these paintings and try to make s o m e c o m m e n t s about their probable intentions in painting the scenes in those paintings that we will observe. Jean-Baptiste

Vanmour.

Three Examples From Vanmour Collection.

First Day at School (oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum, inv. Nr. 38, SK-A 2005) (in Sim Nicholas et. al. 2003:222-223) The painting shows an Ottoman w o m a n w h o is taking her little d a u g h t e r to school, accompannied by other mothers holding their little children in their a r m s , and a group of little boys are leading the company followed by a servant who is carrying the embroidery f r a m e of the little girl

BETWEEN

REALITY

AND

IMAGINATION

55

on top of his head. The beautifully coloured silk costumes of the women and the children indicate that the group is most probably affiliated to the Palace. The group moves from a spectacular building to the school within a garden surrounded by a wall. The space and the existence of the servant also are signs of wealthiness. The scene reflects an Ottoman tradition of initiation of a child to school.

Visit

To A New

Turkish Mother (oil on canvas, R i j k s m u s e u m , SK-A 2003) (in Sint Nicholas et. at. 2003: 220-221)

The painting shows a new mother in childbed covered with a red coloured gold-embroidered quilt, surrounded with several women, some of whom are visitors and others relatives of the mother who are treating the guests who have come to celebrate the birth of the newly born child. One of them is cooking coffee lor the guests on the copper brazier, another woman is carrying fumigation which is believed to wave away the evil spirits that would harm the child, another woman from the family is holding a rose water flask in her hand that she is going to sprinkle on the visitors' hands. These are Turkish customs of hospitality. Beautiful dresses of the women, the furnitures of the room; the copper brazier, the golden coloured ewers, the brass bowls, with mother of pearl inlaid wooden table and the cups on top of it, the oriental designs of the carpet on the floor, as well as the decorations of the walls and the velvet curtains are signs of richness which indicate the wealth of the w o m a n ' s family. The scene on this painting is another example of an Ottoman tradition, that is of the celebration of a child birth.

56

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE I M A G E OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E

Reception of Cornells Calkoen (the Dutch Ambassador) by Sultan Ahmed III at the Topkapi Palace (oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum, SK A4076, Sept. 14, 1727) (in Sint Nicholas et. al. 2003:190-191) This picture shows the Dutch Delegation's entrance to the Ottoman Palace, led by t w o Ottoman Viziers, followed by their servants. In the background we see a lively scene of a race among the janissaries to pick up the copper pilav dishes. While the Ottoman Viziers in f r o n t seem to be moving calm, the servants look obedient and the European dignitaries in the back excited. This is a double scene; the front reflecting the pre-reception scene of the Dutch Consul Cornelis Calkoen by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III, the rear reflecting another Ottoman tradition; the race of pilav dish picking. Hans Georg G a d a m e r states that our present perspective always involves a relationship to the past, but at the same time the past can only be grasped through the limited perspective of the present. Hermeneutics views 'understanding' as a ' f u s i o n ' of the past and present, that means we cannot make our journey into the past without taking the present with us (Selden 1989:123). T h u s when we a n a l y s e the paintings f r o m the p a s t , it is unavoidable that our perceptions will be tinted with our notions of the present

BETWEEN

REALITY

AND

IMAGINATION

57

time, but on the other hand we posses the advantage of looking at the works in the past within the scope of a tradition and be able to c o m p a r e them retroactively with other works of the same period. Hans Robert Jauss uses the term 'horizon of expectation' to describe the criteria readers use to j u d g e literary texts at any given period (Selden 1989:122; Kuran-Bur9oglu 1996: 3336). Since paintings are also considered to be texts, we can compare them with their contemporary art. In the case of V a n m o u r ' s paintings these are the miniatures of his Turkish contemporary artist Levni. 1 When w e j u x t a p o s e V a n m o u r ' s paintings with Levni's miniatures we realize that their t h e m e s , figures and details overlap.

Detail

from

Picture

31 Qanak Yagmasi, Levni, Topkapi Palace,

from Surname-i A-3593.

Vehbi b y

A Workshop on Jean Baptiste Vanmour, co-ordinated with an Exhibition on his paintings, and a famous Turkish artist Levni's miniatures, organized by Turkish art historians and Dutch art restorers in Istanbul, in March 2004 had given me the opportunity to compare these artists' works who had lived in the same century. For a detailed comparative analysis of their art see irepoglu 2003:73-101.

58

Detail

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE IMAGE OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E

from

PicturellWoman wearing a mantle, by Levni, Topkapi Palace, H 2164, 14b).

This gives us a clue for the 'horizon of expectation' of both societies, that is the Ottoman and the European societies in the first half of the eighteenth century. At the same time it reveals the aesthetic norms of both artists w h o were obviously trying to represent the reality as loyally as possible. From this we can conclude that Vanmour's memories as represented in his paintings were not imaginary, but realistic. To complete the Picture about Jean-Baptiste Vanmour I will summarize his life and his relationship to the Ottoman Palace.

BETWEHN

REALITY

AND

IMAGINATION

59

Jean-Baptiste Vanmour was born as the son of a carpenter in Valenciennes in 1671, in the area called Flanders which was then a part of the Spanish Holland. Not much is known about his youth he had spent in that country other than the fact that he had attended an academy in Lille and the speculation that he might have been influenced by the flemish artists who had painted scenes from oriental everyday life (Ozsezgin 2004). It was a custom in Europe in those days for the Ambassadors to take an artist with them when they went abroad to fullfill their jobs who would draw all the important scenes that were related to the Ambassador's job. So the artists in the eighteenth century were fulfilling the function of the photographers of our day. Jean Baptiste Vanmour was brought to Istanbul within that capacity by the French Ambassador Marquis de Ferriol, in 1699 and prepared for him a large set of drawings depicting palace employees, as well as Greeks, Hungarians and Rumanians representing different ethnicities as well as various religions and creeds. These drawings were utilized as engravings by the French Ambassador Charles de Ferriol and were published under the title Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant which became a precious document containing invaluable information about the Ottoman Empire. In 1727 Vanmour started to work for the Dutch Ambassador Cornelis Calkoen by whom he was commissioned to draw the reception scene of the Ambassador by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III in the Topkapi Palace. He stayed in the Empire until his death in 1737 and had painted among various types of people, also scenes reflecting various ceremonies and customs as well as important historical scenes, such as the Tulip Era (1712-1730) and the Patrona Halil Revolt (1930) by which the Tulip Era came to an end that Vanmour had personally vitnessed. The fact that he was married to an Armenian woman in Istanbul may have provided him the opportunity to learn the details of the culture he was living in and add his personal touch to the paintings he had done. When we analyse Vanmour's paintings from the point of intentionality, we cannot find a clue for a hidden purpose than trying hard to fulfill a job, that is to give precise and genuine information about a country, its people, their traditions and customs for the receiving audience of these paintings, the Europeans of the eighteenth century. This reflects the public dimension of his memories. The same precision can be detected in the paintings Vanmour had done by himself without being commissioned. This is another proof of his sincerety and objective observation of the eastern life in general, and the Ottoman life in particular. A collection of Vanmour's paintings have recently been restored by Turkish sponsors and are exhibited in the Topkapi Palace and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

60

REFLECTIONS ON THE IMAGE OF THE TURK IN EUROPE

Jean-Léon-Gérome. Three Examples from (icrornc Collection.

The Terrace of the Palace (oil on canvas, 1886, private collection) This painting shows the terraced pavillion of the Topkapi Palace with its pool in which five nude women are bathing and playing with the water while four other women are sitting on the floor on a large carpet eating fruit and being entertained by an arab woman w h o is playing the o u d . A black eunuch w h o is standing next to them is holding a waterpipe in his hand. In the background, behind the columns of the terrace w e can see the Sultan sitting and watching the naked women bathing while another naked woman is climbing down the reiling in order to reach the pool. The decoration of the terrace, comprising of columns, oriental tiles and geometrically carved marble reilings are drawn with great precision and this gives the impression that everything in the scene is real and authentic.

BHTWEHN

RHALITY AND I M A G I N A T I O N

61

Great Pool of Bursa (oil on canvas, 1885, private collection) This painting shows a scene f r o m a Turkish bath in Bursa in which some naked women are bathing, others are resting around the pool and two w o m e n , one black one white, seen f r o m the back, embracing each other are walking on their highheeled wooden sandals. The architecture of the building seems very authentic for a typical Turkish bath. This painting shows an oriental market. In f r o n t we see a naked woman, supposedly a slave, behind her the salesman w h o is holding her dress in his hand. On the right hand side there are three m e n , the one in front is controlling the teeth of the w o m a n w h o is apparently the client, with his servants standing behind him. In the background a few poorly dressed black and white w o m e n are sitting on the floor and some men are watching the marketing scene of the naked slave from behind. The architecture of the space carry signs f r o m oriental buildings. T h e costumes of the men indicate that we are at the presence of an oriental scene.

62

R E F L E C T I O N S ON THE IMAGE OF THE TURK IN E U R O P E

Slave Market

(oil on canvas, 1867, Williamstown Massachusetts, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, inv. Nr. 53.)

T h e s e paintings of Jean-Leon-Gerome reflect a relatively different image of the Orient to the western audiences of the nineteenth century than Jean-Baptiste V a n m o u r ' s paintings of the first half of the eighteenth century had reflected. Before focusing on the reasons of this I would like to point out certain characteristics that these three paintings done by Jean-Leon-Gerome share. These are:

BETWEEN

a. b.

c.

d.

e.

REALITY

AND

IMAGINATION

63

The oriental spaces; the terraced garden of the Topkapi Palace, the Turkish bath (hamam), an oriental market. Sensuality exhibited through the presentation of the naked women; bathing and playing with water, chit-chatting, walking around together embracing each other-allusion to lesbianism, and waiting to be sold. Masculine power over feminine nakedness; voyeurism- the Sultan watching the naked women in the pool, watching function of the black eunuch, men selling and buying a naked woman. A picturesque exotic and erotic athmosphere; creating the impression that everything in the scene is real through achieving a precision in architectural details in the drawing of the beautifully coloured oriental tiles. This impression reinforces the receiving audience to believe in the authenticity of the scenes with naked women in public places, such as the garden of the Topkapi Palace, or the market place. The presence of an 'orientalist gaze'in Edward Said's terms, that is a dominated humiliating gaze over the scenes and the figures represented in them.

Linda Nochlin, in her essay on the "Imaginary Orient" states: There are never any Europeans in 'picturesque' views of the Orient like t h e s e . I n d e e d , it m i g h t be said that one of the d e f i n i n g f e a t u r e s of Orientalist painting is its dependence for its very existence on a presence that is a l w a y s a b s e n c e . T h e W e s t e r n colonial or touristic p r e s e n c e (Nochlin 1994:37).

She furthermore states that the Westerner is implicitly present in those paintings, with his/her controlling gaze: the gaze which brings the Oriental world into being, the gaze for which it is ultimately intended. Part of the strategy of an Orientalist painter like Gérome is to make his viewers forget that there was any 'bringing into b e i n g ' at all, to convince them that w o r k s like t h e s e were simply 'reflections', scientific in their exactitude, of a preexisting Oriental reality (ibid.).

From the information we get from historical documents as well as from history textbooks however, we know that neither the bathing of women in open air spaces, nor the sale of naked women slaves in the markets were permitted in the Ottoman Empire, in a country, where Islam was strictly observed. Thus we can conclude that Jéan Léon Gerome's memories as represented in his paintings are far from realistic but based on his phantasies of the East.

64

R E F L E C T I O N S ON T H E I M A G E OF T H E T U R K IN E U R O P E

Colonialization of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century had certainly brought about a paradigm shift in the value judgements of the West the outcome of which was coined as 'Orientalism' by the late Edward Said. With that the 'horizon of expectation' of the western audiences of art must also have been changed who would highly esteem the works of painters like Gérome, as he became a very rich painter who had a lot of customers in Europe as well as in America. Along with this various schools of Oriental Painters emerged in different countries of Europe. Brief information about Gérome's life will help complementing his perception and his approach in representing the Eastern World to the West. Jean-Léon-Gérome

was born in 1824 in Vesoul as a son of a jeweller

and was taught by J.H. Delaroche. His art was influenced by Ingres's linearity and Delaroche's creativity. He excelled in technical skills and painting the details in high precision. After his visit to Egypt in 1856 he started to paint exotic scenes with erotic emphasis. During the last 25 years of his life he also did sculptures. He taught in the Academy de Beaux Arts and trained many well-known artists among whom there were also famous Turkish artists like Halil Pa§a, §eker Ahmed Pa§a and Osman Hamdi Bey. Gérome was very influential in Paris and was against the impressionists. He could persuade the government in 1893 to dismiss 65 paintings done by impressionists. Gérome died in 1904. As mentioned above Gérome's fame extended over the ocean and he became also popular in America. Ironically he was considered a 'realistic' painter in his time. However, our reading of his paintings has proved that his memories were imaginative, personal, subjective, and at the same time ideological, reflecting and justifying the image of the Oriental in the minds of the receiving audiences of the Western World in the nineteenth century.

References Ana Britannica. 1988. Istanbul. Hollanda Sarayi. Amsterdam: Hoenkamp-Mazgon, Marlies. 2002. Istanbul'da Boom. Irepoglu, GUI. 2003. "Vanmour ve Levni: Aynamn tki Yiizu", Lale Devri'nin Gòrgii Tamgi: Jean Baptiste Vanmour. Istanbul: Ko^bank. Kuran-Bur9oglu, Nedret. 2005g Die Wandtungen des Tiirkenbildes in Europa. Zurich: Spur Verlag. — (edt.). 2000. The Image of the Turk in Europe from the Declaration of the Republic in 1923 to 1990s. Proceedings of the Workshop held on 5-6^ March, 1999, at CECES, Bogazigi University. (433p.) Istanbul: The ISIS Press.

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AND

IMAGINATION

65

1996a "Alimlama Estetigi ve Hans Robert Jauß." Ele§tiri ve Ele^tiri Kurami Üstiine Söylemler Yay. haz. M e h m e t Rifat, Söylem Dizisi: 2, pp. 29-42, Istanbul: Diizlem Yayinlari. M a k a r y k , Irena, R. 1994. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory. Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press. Nochlin, Linda. 1994.77i