How an Ottoman Intellectual Views the Countryside: Internal Orientalism in Ahmet İhsan’s Travel Writings

Veysel Öztürk

Makale detayları

How an Ottoman Intellectual Views the Countryside: Internal Orientalism in Ahmet İhsan’s Travel Writings

Yazarlar:

Veysel Öztürk

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Türkiye Sahası Yeni Türk Edebiyatı

Dergi:

Türkbilig Vol.2024 Issue 47, pp.328-347

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001321432

pISSN:

1302-6011

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 At the end of the nineteenth century, Ottoman literary and print culture witnessed a surge in travel writing. These writings provide a unique opportunity to trace how technological developments at the end of the century reshaped communication and relations between the Ottoman capital and Anatolia. One of the most significant travel writers of the period was Ahmet İhsan, the publisher and manager of Servet-i Fünûn. In his three travel writings, published after his journeys along the newly opened railway lines in Anatolia between 1892 and 1896, modernity plays a decisive role both materially and intellectually. Rather than being a realistic record of a journey, travel writing, like autobiography and memoir, is a representation of a subjective experience. Indeed, Ahmet İhsans view of the provinces is not unmediated; it is shaped by and through the effects of technologies such as the railway and photography, which eased travel and led to the rise of travel writing. The subjects he selects for narration in his writings and the style in which he describes them demonstrate the extent to which the centralism of the Ottoman administrative structure was reflected in the minds of Ottoman intellectuals. When Ahmet İhsan encounters some of the sights of local life, he does not recount them in their original form, but rather his regulatory view is at work. This results in the reception and representation of the Anatolian landscape with Orientalist tendencies. As a member of the educated class who is aware of the changing world, Ahmet İhsan frequently compares the provinces of the empire with those of the West, while looking at Anatolia through the possibilities of the modern world. He conveys Anatolian geography and people by borrowing the Western perception of the East. This article examines the manner in which the Orientalist gaze influences the reception and representation of the upcountry in the Istanbul intellectuals encounter with the Anatolian countryside, as evidenced by Ahmet İhsans three travelogues.

 At the end of the nineteenth century, Ottoman literary and print culture witnessed a surge in travel writing. These writings provide a unique opportunity to trace how technological developments at the end of the century reshaped communication and relations between the Ottoman capital and Anatolia. One of the most significant travel writers of the period was Ahmet İhsan, the publisher and manager of Servet-i Fünûn. In his three travel writings, published after his journeys along the newly opened railway lines in Anatolia between 1892 and 1896, modernity plays a decisive role both materially and intellectually. Rather than being a realistic record of a journey, travel writing, like autobiography and memoir, is a representation of a subjective experience. Indeed, Ahmet İhsans view of the provinces is not unmediated; it is shaped by and through the effects of technologies such as the railway and photography, which eased travel and led to the rise of travel writing. The subjects he selects for narration in his writings and the style in which he describes them demonstrate the extent to which the centralism of the Ottoman administrative structure was reflected in the minds of Ottoman intellectuals. When Ahmet İhsan encounters some of the sights of local life, he does not recount them in their original form, but rather his regulatory view is at work. This results in the reception and representation of the Anatolian landscape with Orientalist tendencies. As a member of the educated class who is aware of the changing world, Ahmet İhsan frequently compares the provinces of the empire with those of the West, while looking at Anatolia through the possibilities of the modern world. He conveys Anatolian geography and people by borrowing the Western perception of the East. This article examines the manner in which the Orientalist gaze influences the reception and representation of the upcountry in the Istanbul intellectuals encounter with the Anatolian countryside, as evidenced by Ahmet İhsans three travelogues.

 At the end of the nineteenth century, Ottoman literary and print culture witnessed a surge in travel writing. These writings provide a unique opportunity to trace how technological developments at the end of the century reshaped communication and relations between the Ottoman capital and Anatolia. One of the most significant travel writers of the period was Ahmet İhsan, the publisher and manager of Servet-i Fünûn. In his three travel writings, published after his journeys along the newly opened railway lines in Anatolia between 1892 and 1896, modernity plays a decisive role both materially and intellectually. Rather than being a realistic record of a journey, travel writing, like autobiography and memoir, is a representation of a subjective experience. Indeed, Ahmet İhsans view of the provinces is not unmediated; it is shaped by and through the effects of technologies such as the railway and photography, which eased travel and led to the rise of travel writing. The subjects he selects for narration in his writings and the style in which he describes them demonstrate the extent to which the centralism of the Ottoman administrative structure was reflected in the minds of Ottoman intellectuals. When Ahmet İhsan encounters some of the sights of local life, he does not recount them in their original form, but rather his regulatory view is at work. This results in the reception and representation of the Anatolian landscape with Orientalist tendencies. As a member of the educated class who is aware of the changing world, Ahmet İhsan frequently compares the provinces of the empire with those of the West, while looking at Anatolia through the possibilities of the modern world. He conveys Anatolian geography and people by borrowing the Western perception of the East. This article examines the manner in which the Orientalist gaze influences the reception and representation of the upcountry in the Istanbul intellectuals encounter with the Anatolian countryside, as evidenced by Ahmet İhsans three travelogues.

 On dokuzuncu yüzyıl sonunda Osmanlı yazın ve matbuat kültüründe seyahat yazıları büyük bir artış gösterir. Bu yazılar asır sonundaki teknolojik gelişmelerin Osmanlı başkenti ile Anadolu arasındaki iletişim ve ilişkileri nasıl yeniden şekillendirdiğini izlemek için benzersiz bir imkân sağlar. Dönemin seyahat yazınının en önemli yazarlarından birisi, Servet-i Fünûnun imtiyaz sahibi ve müdürü Ahmet İhsandır. Onun 1892-1896 arasında yeni açılan demiryolu hatları boyunca çıktığı üç seyahatin ardından kaleme aldığı yazılarında hem maddi hem zihinsel bakımdan modernite belirleyici bir rol oynar. Bir seyahatin gerçekçi bir kaydı olmaktan çok tıpkı otobiyografi ve hatırat gibi bir ben anlatısı olarak seyahat yazını, öznel bir tecrübenin temsilidir. Nitekim, Ahmet İhsanın taşraya bakışı aracısız tezahür etmez; bu bakış, seyahati kolaylaştırarak seyahat yazınındaki artışa da neden olan demiryolu ve fotoğraf gibi teknolojilerin aracılığıyla ve onların etkileriyle şekillenir. Yazılarında anlatmaya değer gördüğü şeyler ve bunları anlatırken kullandığı üslup, Osmanlı idari yapısının merkeziyetçiliğinin Osmanlı aydınının zihninde ne denli büyük bir karşılık bulduğunu gösterir. Yerel gündelik hayatın önüne çıkan kimi manzaraları karşısında Ahmet İhsanın olanı olduğu gibi anlamak yerine, onu düzene sokucu bakışı devrededir. Bu haliyle Ahmet İhsanın Anadolu taşrasını alımlayış ve temsili, Oryantalist bir nitelik arz eder. Değişen dünyanın farkında olan okumuş sınıfın bir mensubu olarak Ahmet İhsan, Anadoluya modern dünyanın imkânları içerisinden bakarken her fırsatta imparatorluk taşrasını Batı taşrası ile kıyaslar. Anadolu coğrafyası ve insanını Batının Doğu algısını ödünç alarak aktarır. Bu makale, Ahmet İhsanın üç seyahat yazısını İstanbul aydınının taşra ile karşılaşması bağlamında ele alarak yazarın özellikle Oryantalist bakışının taşrayı alımlayış ve temsilini nasıl şekillendirdiğine odaklanıyor.

Makale detayları

How an Ottoman Intellectual Views the Countryside: Internal Orientalism in Ahmet İhsan’s Travel Writings

Yazarlar:

Veysel Öztürk

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Türkiye Sahası Yeni Türk Edebiyatı

Dergi:

Türkbilig Vol.2024 Issue 47, pp.328-347

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001321432

pISSN:

1302-6011

Ahmet İhsan

Servet-i Fünûn

travel writing

internal orientalism

railways

photographyAhmet İhsan

Servet-i Fünûn

seyahat yazını

iç Oryantalizm

demiryolu

fotoğraf

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Veysel Öztürk

Yayıncı: Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar: Türkiye Sahası Yeni Türk Edebiyatı

Dergi: Türkbilig Vol.2024 Issue 47, pp.328-347

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 6/2024

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001321432

pISSN: 1302-6011

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Veysel Öztürk

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Türkiye Sahası Yeni Türk Edebiyatı

Dergi:

Türkbilig Vol.2024 Issue 47, pp.328-347

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001321432

pISSN:

1302-6011