World Without East and West

Nell’ambito del VIII CICLO DI SEMINARI 2024 del Progetto IDA (Immagini e Deformazioni dell’Altro) promosso dal Centro di Ricerca FIMIM (Filologia e Medievistica Indo-Mediterranea) e dai Dipartimenti di Lingue Letterature e Culture moderne (LILEC) e di Storia Culture e Civiltà (DISCI), il 30 aprile 2024, h. 11.00, avrà luogo un seminario della Dott.a Zeynep Nur Şimşek, dal titolo:

World Without East and West:
Exploring Microcosms in Late Ottoman Literature

Enlightenment texts, particularly those authored by Fenelon and Voltaire, served as a common foundation for the modernizing literatures of the Ottoman Empire. Starting from the early decades of the nineteenth century in order to accelerate the process of modernization, Arab, Armenian, Greek, and Turkish translators in the empire favored translating the primary texts of the Enlightenment into their own languages. Among these texts, Voltaire’s philosophical novel Micromegas (1752) was repeatedly translated by several Ottoman translators and influenced literature with its philosophical ideas. In Micromegas, Voltaire conducted philosophical inquiries about ontological and epistemological issues such as the soul, matter, intelligence, human condition, and animal nature, challenging the centrality of humankind by adopting the perspective of a non-human subject who examines the world under a microscope. This study traces the influence of Micromegas on late Ottoman literature and argues that this particular novel created a narrative that does not fall into the dichotomy of East and West, which were key notions of modernization theories. Contrary to the modernization narratives grounded in cardinal directions, this study analyzes the semi-fictional article series of Ahmed Midhat, the most prolific late Ottoman author, who offered an ontological inquiry of the concept of “civilization” rather than the mainstream moralist reading of the term. By dealing with the non-canonical works of late Ottoman literature, this study aims to highlight alternative discourses of modernization as well as the uncommon topics addressed in late Ottoman literature.

L’evento è organizzato dalla Professoressa Özen Nergis Dolcerocca nell’ambito del corso di Cultura e Letteratura Turca (Studio 53, Via Cartoleria 5, Bologna), ed è accessibile anche da remoto a questo link: https://tinyurl.com/wxh4hkh4
per info: ozen.dolcerocca@unibo.it