Mihri Hatun: Performance, Gender-Bending, and Subversion in Ottoman Intellectual History

251 Pages·2017·18.976 MB·English

by  Didem Havlioglu

Mihrî Hatun
Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East
miriam cooke, Simona Sharoni, and Suad Joseph, Series Editors
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Mihrî Hatun
performance, gender-bending,
and subversion in
ottoman intellectual history
didem havlioğlu
Syracuse University Press
Copyright © 2017 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2017
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∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press,
visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.
ISBN: 978-0-8156-3549-9 (hardcover) 978-0-8156-3537-6 (paperback)
978-0-8156-5415-5 (e-book)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Havlioğlu, Didem Z., 1970– author
Title: Mihrî Hatun : performance, gender-bending, and subversion in
Ottoman intellectual history / Didem Havlioğlu.
Description: Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, [2017] |
Series: Gender, culture, and politics in the Middle East | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017040204 (print) | LCCN 2017042117 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780815654155 (e-book) | ISBN 9780815635499 (hardcover :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9780815635376 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Mihri Hatun, 1460?–1506—Criticism and
interpretation. | Turkish poetry—15th century—History and criticism.
| Women poets, Turkish—Biography. | Gender identity in literature.
Classification: LCC PL248.M48 (ebook) | LCC PL248.M48 Z69 2017
(print) | DDC 894/.3512—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017040204
Manufactured in the United States of America
For my mother, Hatice,
who constantly creates beauty and love
during and after her lifetime

•
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxi
A Note on Transliteration and
Use of Original Terms xxv
Introduction: A Female Lion in a Male Arena 1
Part One. Mihrî Hatun: The Making of a Woman Poet 31
1. A Lucky Star Is Born 33
2. Meclis as a Space of Artistic Production 57
3. City and Patron as Beloveds
Amasya and Bayezid II 72
Part Two. Poetics of a Battlefield 93
4. Troubling Love: Performativity in Ottoman Poetry 101
5. Performance and Legitimacy: Necâtî and Mihrî 115
6. Gender-Bending and Subversion
Makâmî and Mihrî 138
Epilogue: Returning to the Future 150
Appendix: Poetry Selection 173
Glossary of Terms 197
Bibliography 199
Index 209

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Illustrations
1. A female courtier holding a flower and a book 32
2. A male patron with female courtiers 58
3. A depiction of Amasya 73
4. A representation of Sultan Bayezid II 83
5. An imagined scene of a female meclis in a picnic site 94
ix