A Critical Reevaluation of the Ottoman/Turish Press Historiograply

KARAGÖZ KIZILCA G.

ILEF DERGISI, cilt.3, sa.1, ss.71-90, 2016 (ESCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 3 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2016
  • Dergi Adı: ILEF DERGISI
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.71-90
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Ottoman press, Ottoman press historiography, the Ottoman and Turkish modernization, the Ottoman public sphere, the Ottoman reading public
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study aims to review the Ottoman/Turkish press historiography with a critical perspective. Conventional Ottoman press historiography claims that, as the active actors of the Empire, the reformist and enlightened Ottoman ruling elites initiated a modernization program to prevent the disintegration of the Empire that led to the development of the Ottoman press. In the conventional Ottoman historiography, the public appeared as an unchanging entity that was far from forming a reading public. Yet, this study argues that a reinvestigation of the state documents and the 19th century Ottoman newspapers shows the dynamic structure of the Ottoman public that facilitated the emergence of the press. This study asserts that the emergence of the Ottoman press can be analyzed in relation to the world capitalist economy as well as the contested interests of the diverse groups in the Ottoman society.