TURKISH & OTTOMAN STUDIES
NMC 2300Y INTRODUCTORY TURKISH (=NML 270Y)
Turkish belongs to the western branch of the Altaic linguistic family and is related to the Turkic languages spoken in the former Soviet Central Asian republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in western regions of China. Turkish has since 1928 been written in the Latin script, making it relatively easy to learn for western students. This course covers the essentials of Turkish grammar, and introduces students to reading and translation of passages of elementary difficulty. Designed for students without previous knowledge of Turkish. This course also serves as a basis for the study of Ottoman Turkish. (Offered in alternate years)
V. Ostapchuk
NMC 2301Y INTERMEDIATE TURKISH (=NML 370Y)
This course involves reading, grammatical analysis and translation of modern Turkish texts of intermediate difficulty. The reading materials are selected from a wide range of literary genres (short stories, poetry, essays, and newspaper articles). There will be a review of basic Turkish grammar, as well as an introduction of more advanced topics. This course serves as a preparation for further study of Turkish language and literature, as well as Ottoman Turkish language and literature (Offered in alternate years).
V. Ostapchuk
NMC 2310Y OTTOMAN HISTORY TO 1800 (=NML 377Y)
A survey of the Ottoman Empire from its late 13th/early 14th century origins as a border principality through the classical age of Mehmed the Conqueror and Suleyman the Magnificent when as a mature Islamic Empire it ruled lands in Europe, Asia, and Africa, to the internal and external challenges faced by the empire during the 17th and 18th centuries when it was forced to transform or decline. The course ends with the Treaty of Kuchuk Kajnardja (1774) and its aftermath. Attention will also be paid to the immediate predecessors of the Ottomans, the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate, the Mongols, and to the principalities known as beyliks, which came after the fall of the Seljuks and before the rise of the Ottomans. Coverage includes topics in Ottoman institutions, economy, society, and culture.
V. Ostapchuk
NMC 2330Y READINGS IN OTTOMAN HISTORICAL TEXTS
This course is an introduction to the reading and analysis of Ottoman historical texts in the original manuscript—chronicles, gazavatnames, nasihatnames, travel accounts, and epics. The principles of textual criticism will be covered and students will be given practice in text editing. For each seminar meeting the participants will prepare excerpts from original Ottoman manuscripts for reading and analysis.
V. Ostapchuk
NMC 2331Y OTTOMAN PALAEOGRAPHY AND DIPLOMATICS
This course is an introduction to Ottoman palaeography and diplomatics. The participants will be presented with a range of Ottoman documents such as imperial edicts (firman/hükm) and their registrations (mühimme defteri), diplomas (berat), reports and petitions (‘arz, ‘arz-i hal), vizierial summaries (telhis), memoranda (tezkire), receipts (temmesük), and legal registrations (sicill, hüccet). In addition there will be samples from various types of registers (defter), for example, surveys of taxable population (tahrir defteri) or records of the financial department (maliye), such as day books (ruznamçe defteri) and financial edict registry books (ahkam defteri). For each seminar meeting the participants will prepare an original Ottoman document for reading and analysis.
V. Ostapchuk
NMC 2340Y STUDIES IN OTTOMAN AND TURKISH LITERATURE (=NML470Y)
This course is designed to enable students to pursue independent work in Turkish and Ottoman studies. Early in the course the main concentration will be on texts from the early Republican period when the language was undergoing a transformation from Ottoman Turkish. After the students become familiar with older Modern Turkish, the Arabic-based Ottoman script will be introduced and a variety of simple fictional and non-fictional Ottoman texts will be studied. Differences between modern Turkish and Ottoman grammar will be pointed out. Elements of Arabic and Persian grammar that occur in Ottoman will be presented. (Offered in alternate years).
V. Ostapchuk