Fashioning identity: sartorial symbolism and cultural negotiation in Tanzimat literature of the Ottoman Empire
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26563/dobras.v18i44.1854Schlagworte:
Tanzimat literature, Sartorial symbolism, Ottoman modernization, Semiotics, MimicryAbstract
This article explores sartorial symbolism in Tanzimat-era literature (1860-1896) within the Ottoman Empire. The research analyzes sartorial choices as narrative devices in three pivotal Tanzimat novels: The Carriage Affair (Araba Sevdası) by Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Mister Felâtun and Master Râkım (Felâtun Bey ve Râkım Efendi) by Ahmet Mithat Efendi, and Dandy (Şık) by Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar. Drawing on Barthes’ semiotic framework, it positions fashion as a performative act that inscribes cultural myths onto the body, articulating narratives of identity, power and transformation. By analyzing sartorial symbolism as a visual grammar, the study employs a comparative character analysis of the alafranga and the Ottoman gentleman (alaturka) archetypes. The research further offers a novel interpretation of Tanzimat novels by combining sartorial symbolism with Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial theories of mimicry and hybridity (third space). It introduces three novel concepts -superficial mimicry, excessive mimicry, and harmonious hybridization- symbolized by the characters in the novels. This interdisciplinary approach aims to bridge literary analysis, historical context, postcolonial theories and fashion studies.
Downloads
Literaturhinweise
AKKAYA, Sacide N. Türk romanında self-oryantalizm. PhD Theis, Istanbul University: Institute of Social Science, 2020.
ANDI, Kübra. Servet-i Fünûn mecmuası. Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi, v. 4, n. 7, pp. 533-544, 2006. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/654866 Last visited: 3 jan. 2025.
ARSLAN, Bahtiyar. Characteristics of the Tanzimat novel and two actors of cultural ambivalence: Felâtun Bey and Bihruz Bey. Journal of Turkish Language and Literature, n. 58, v. 2, pp. 229-245, 2018. Available at: https://doi.org/10.26650/TUDED494448. Last visited: 4 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26650/TUDED494448
AYSAL, Necdet. Tanzimat’tan Cumhuriyet’e giyim ve kuşamda çağdaşlaşma hareketleri. Çağdaş Türkiye Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi, v. 10, n. 22, pp. 3-32, 2011. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/cttad/issue/25243/266919. Last visited: 4 jan. 2025.
BAL, Mieke. Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017[1985].
BARTHES, Roland. Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers. New York: The Noonday Press, 1972.
BARTHES, Roland. Image, music, text. Translated by Stephen Heath. London: Fontana Press, 1977.
BARTHES, Roland. The fashion system. Translated by Matthew Ward and Richard Howard. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.
BEYAZ, Yasin. Yeni Türk Edebiyatı ne kadar yeni? XIX. asır sonrasına dair yeni yaklaşımlar. Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları, v. 29, pp. 14-16, 2024. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3534315. Last visited: 4 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30767/diledeara.1390122
BENJAMIN, Walter. On the concept of history. In: ELIAND Howard, and JENNINGS, Michael W. (Eds.). Selected Writings: Volume 4, 1938–1940. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003. pp. 389–400.
BENJAMIN, Walter. Illuminations. Translated by Harry Zohn. New York: Schocken Books, 2007[1968].
BHABA, Homi K. The location of culture. London: Routledge, 2004[1994].
BHANDARI, Nagendra B. Homi K. Bhabha’s third space theory and cultural identity today: A critical review. Prithvi Academic Journal, v. 5, pp. 171-181, 2022. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3126/paj.v5i1.45049. Last visited: 10 sep. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3126/paj.v5i1.45049
BUTLER, Judith. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
CRAIK, Jennifer. The face of fashion: cultural studies in fashion. London: Routledge, 1993.
CRAIK, Jennifer. Fashion: The key concepts. Oxford: Berg, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350522596
ÇIFTÇI, Yusuf. Modernisation in the Tanzimat Period and the Ottoman Empire: An analysis of the Tanzimat Edict within the scope of the modern state. Uluslararası Sosyal ve Beşeri Bilimler Dergisi, v. 2, n. 2, pp. 14-24, 2019. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/914134. Last visited: 2 jan. 2025.
DAVIS, Fred. Fashion, culture, and identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
DERINGIL, Selim. “They live in a state of nomadism and savagery”: The late Ottoman Empire and the post-colonial debate. Society for Comparative Study of Society and History, v. 45, pp. 311-342, 2003. Available at: [suspicious link removed]. Last visited: 4 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S001041750300015X
EKREM, Recaizade M. Araba sevdası. Istanbul: Türk Edebiyat Vakfı, 2010[1897].
ECHTNER, Charlotte M., and PRASAD, Pushkala. The context of third world tourism marketing. Annals of Tourism Research, n. 30, v. 3, pp. 660-660, 2003. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(03)00045-8. Last visited: 10 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(03)00045-8
ELDEM, Edhem. The Ottoman Empire and orientalism: An awkward relationship. In: POUILLON, François and VATIN, Jean-Claude (Eds.). After orientalism: Critical perspectives on Western agency and Eastern re-appropriations. Leiden: Brill, 2015. pp. 89-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004282537_008
EXERTZOGLOU, Haris. The cultural uses of consumption: Negotiating class, gender, and nation in the Ottoman urban centers during the 19th century. International Journal of Middle East Studies, v. 35, n. 1, pp. 77-101, 2003. Available at: [suspicious link removed]. Last visited: 10 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743803000047
GOFFMAN, Erving. The presentation of self in everyday life. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 1956.
GOLDEN, Sean. Orientalism in East Aisa: A theoretical model. Barcelona: Inter Asia Papers, 2009.
GÜNER, Selda. Oryantalizmin ortaçağ Avrupasındaki düşünsel kökenleri: Batı’nın ötekileştirdiği müslüman Doğu. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, v. 25, n. 1, pp. 57-73. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/huefd/issue/41206/502698. Last visited: 11 jan. 2025.
GÜRBILEK, Nurdan. Kötü çocuk Türk. Istanbul: Metis, 2012.
GÜRPINAR, Hüseyin R. Şık. İstanbul: Özgür, 2012[1889].
HERMAN, David. Basic elements of narrative. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305920
HUNG, Ho-Fung. Orientalist knowledge and social theories: China and the European conception of East-West differences from 1600 to 1900. Sociological Theory, n. 21, v. 3, pp. 254–280, 2003. Available at: [suspicious link removed]. Last visited: 10 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9558.00188
KAISER, Susan. Fashion and cultural studies. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2012.
KANDIYOTI, Deniz. Some awkward questions on women and modernity in Turkey. In: ABU-LUGHOD, Lila (Ed.). Remaking women: feminism and modernity in the Middle East. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1998. pp. 270-287. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400831203-011
KARABULUT, Mustafa. Tanzimat dönemi romanlarında eğlence hayatı, adab-ı muaşeret ve kılık-kıyafet. Türk Dünyası Araştırmaları, v. 185, pp. 133-148, 2010. Available at: https://turkoloji.cu.edu.tr/YENI%20TURK%20EDEBIYATI/mustafa_karabulut_tanzimat_roman_kilik_kiyafet.pdf. Last visited: 20 aug. 2024.
KECHRIOTIS, Vangelis. Postcolonial criticism encounters late Ottoman studies. Historein, v. 13, pp. 39-46, 2013. Available at: https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/historein/article/download/2256/2090. Last visited: 10 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.183
KILIÇBAY, Mehmet A. Tanzimat neyi tanzim etti? Argos, v. 15, pp. 57-63, 1989.
KOÇU, Reşat E. Türk giyim kuşam ve süslenme sözlüğü. Istanbul: Doğan Kitap, 2015[1967].
KOYUNCU, Derviş T., and TİLTAY, Muhammet A. Tanzimat sonrası Osmanlı toplumunun tüketim kalıplarında meydana gelen değişimin dönemin romanları bağlamında değerlendirilmesi. Journal of International Management, Education and Economics Perspectives, v. 5, n. 2, pp. 1-19, 2017. Available at: https://arastirmax.com/en/system/files/dergiler/286594/makaleler/5/2/arastirmax-tanzimat-sonrasi-osmanli-toplumunun-tuketim-kaliplarinda-meydana-gelen-degisimin-donemin-romanlari-baglaminda-degerlendirilmesi.pdf Last visited: 15 aug. 2024.
KÜHN, Thomas. Shaping and reshaping colonial Ottomanism: Contesting boundaries of difference and integration in Ottoman Yemen. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, v. 27, n. 2, pp. 315-331, 2007. Available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/4/article/220768/summary. Last visited: 16 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201x-2007-008
LIPOVETSKY, Gilles. The empire of fashion: Dressing modern democracy. Translated by Catherine Porter. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.
MAKDISI, Ussama. Ottoman orientalism. American History Review, v. 107, n. 3, pp. 768-796, 2002. Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/hi173/classesandreading/ottomanempire/makdisi_-_ottoman_orientalism.pdf. Last visited: 16 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/107.3.768
MARDIN, Şerif. Power, civil society and culture in the Ottoman Empire. Comparative Studies in Society and History, v. 11, n. 3, pp. 258-284, 1969. Available at: [suspicious link removed] ?casa_token=tt4w16N1l_wAAAAA:YyTmo1wCkwAGHRcRbWQJ0LRgmLB8kGDKe-ERCCAP5C1-o0ksvjzls6JR6_IBXRr1_KldK6ncvFgwK3JHQCjupcUhNT53uteYmuhTIp_dLkjlqvstBIbLew. Last visited: 16 jan. 2025.
MARDIN, Şerif. European culture and the development of modern Turkey. In: EVIN, Ahmet and DENTON, Geoffrey (Eds.). Turkey and the European community. Budrich: Opladen, 1990. pp. 13-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-01422-5_2
MERIÇ, Cemil. Umrandan uygarlığa. Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1996.
MITHAT, A. Felâtun Bey ve Râkım Efendi. İstanbul: Türk Edebiyat Vakfı Yayınları, 2010[1875].
MUTMAN, Mahmut. The Carriage Affair, or the birth of a national hero. Monograf, v. 11, pp. 230-289. Available at: http://monografjournal.com/sayilar/12/13-mahmut-mutman.pdf. Last visited: 12 jan. 2025.
NAMLI, Taner. (2019). Tanzimat romanında alafranga züppe eleştirsi. Adıyaman Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, v. 31, pp. 188-239. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14520/adyusbd.525110. Last visited: 10 sep. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14520/adyusbd.525110
OKAY, Orhan M. Batı medeniyeti karşısında Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Ankara: Baylan Matbaası, 1975.
ÖZER, İlbeyi. Osmanlı’dan cumhuriyete yaşam ve moda. Istanbul: Truva, 2009[2006].
PARLA, Jale. Babalar ve oğullar: Tanzimat romanının epistemolojik temelleri. İstanbul: İletişim, 2014[1990].
ÖZÜDOĞRU, Şakir. Ottoman costume in the context of modern Turkish fashion design. In: JANSEN, M. Angela and CRAIK, Jennifer (Eds.). Modern fashion traditions: Negotiating tradition and modernity through fashion. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. pp. 121-141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474229524.ch-006
SAID, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
TÜRESAY, Özgür. The Ottoman Empire seen through lens of postcolonial studies: A recent historiographical turn. Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, v. 60, n. 2, pp. 127-145, 2013. Available at: https://www.cairn-int.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=E_RHMC_602_0127&download=1. Last visited: 12 jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/rhmc.602.0127
TÜZEL, Bilge. “Modernliğin” tanzim ettiği gardıroplar: Tanzimat dönemi romanlarında giyim-kuşam. Gazi Türkiyat, v. 30, pp. 357-274. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2517857. Last visited: 16 jan. 2025.
VEBLEN, Thorstein. The theory of the leisure class. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007[1899].
ZÜRCHER, Erik J. Turkey: a modern history. Oxford: I. B. Tauris, 2004[1993].
![A imagem é uma composição artística com uma pessoa e elementos florais em um fundo laranja vibrante. Uma figura de cabelo ruivo, vista parcialmente de costas, está sentada ou ajoelhada, com cordas vermelhas amarradas em uma das pernas. Flores escuras e estilizadas com detalhes em vermelho adornam o lado esquerdo, e a pessoa repousa sobre uma superfície de madeira. No canto superior direito, lê-se "[artigos]" na vertical.](https://dobras.emnuvens.com.br/public/journals/1/submission_1854_2554_coverImage_pt_BR.jpg)
Downloads
Veröffentlicht
Zitationsvorschlag
Ausgabe
Rubrik
Lizenz
Copyright (c) 2025 Şakir Özüdoğru
Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung - Nicht-kommerziell - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International. Direitos Autorais para artigos publicados nesta revista são do autor, com direitos de primeira publicação para a revista. Em virtude de aparecerem nesta revista de acesso público, os artigos são de uso gratuito, com atribuições próprias, em aplicações educacionais e não-comerciais
