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In the space of six years early in the seventeenth century, the Ottoman Empire underwent such turmoil and trauma--the assassination of the young ruler Osman II, the re-enthronement and subsequent abdication of his mad uncle Mustafa I, for a start--that a scholar pronounced the period's three-day-long dramatic climax "an Ottoman Tragedy." Under Gabriel Piterberg's deft analysis, this period of crisis becomes a historical laboratory for the history of the Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth century--an opportunity to observe the dialectical play between history as an occurrence and experience and history as a recounting of that experience. Piterberg reconstructs the Ottoman narration of this fraught period from the foundational text, produced in the early 1620s, to the composition of the state narrative at the end of the seventeenth century. His work brings theories of historiography into dialogue with the actual interpretation of Ottoman historical texts, and forces a rethinking of both Ottoman historiography and the Ottoman state in the seventeenth century. A provocative reinterpretation of a major event in Ottoman history, this work reconceives the relation between historiography and history.
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An Ottoman Tragedy studies on the history of society and culture Victoria E. Bonnell and Lynn Hunt, Editors An Ottoman Tragedy History and Historiography at Play gabriel piterberg University of California Press berkeley los angeles london University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2003 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Piterberg, Gabriel, 1955– An Ottoman tragedy : history and historiography at play / Gabriel Piterberg. p. cm.—(Studies on the history of society and culture ; 50) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0 –520 –23836 –2 (cloth) 1. Turkey—History. 2. Historiography— Turkey. I. Title. II. Series. dr438.8 .p58 2003 956 .015— dc21 2002152983 Manufactured in the United States of America 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48 –1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper). For Uri, who puts things in perspective, and to my parents Soon as I beheld thee, mazed and wildered grew my sad heart; How shall I my love disclose to thee who tyrant dread art? How shall I hold straight upon my road, when yonder Torment Smitten hath my breast with deadly wounds by her eyelash-dart? Face, a rose; and mouth, a rosebud; form, a slender sapling— How shall I not be the slave of Princess such as thou art? Ne’er hath heart a beauty seen like her of graceful figure; Joyous would I for yon charmer’s eyebrow with my life part. Farisi, what can you do but love that peerless beauty? Ah! this aged Sphere hath made me lover of yon sweetheart. A Gazel written in 1622 by Farisi (Sultan Osman II’s mahlas or pseudonym), published and translated by E. J. W. Gibb. Was it dedicated to Sultan Osman’s beloved, Akile, daughter of the Sheyhülislam Esad Efendi? The skeptical theses based on the reduction of historiography to its narrative or rhetorical dimension have been in circulation for a few decades, even if their roots, as we shall see, are more ancient. In general, the theoreticians of historiography who propose them care little for the concrete work of historians. But even historians, aside from some token homage to a “linguistic turn” or “rhetorical turn” currently in vogue, are scarcely inclined to reflect on the theoretical implications of their own profession. Rarely has the chasm between methodological reflection and actual historiographical practice been as pronounced as in the last few decades. It seems th