Untitled - Universiteit Leiden

306 Pages·2010·17.27 MB·English

WESTERN IDEAS PERCOLATING INTO OTTOMAN MINDS:
A Survey of Translation Activity and the Famous Case of Télémaque

Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof.mr. P.F. van der Heijden,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op 1 juni 2010
klokke 13.45 uur

door

Arzu Meral
Geboren te Istanbul, Turkije
in 1975
Promotiecommissie:

Promotor: Prof. dr. Remke Kruk

Co-promotor: Dr. Jan Schmidt

Overige leden:
Prof. dr. E. J. Zürcher
Prof. dr. P. J. Smith
Prof. dr. Nasr Abu Zayd (Universiteit voor Humanistiek)
Dr. A. J. M. Vrolijk
Table of Contents

Abstract I
Acknowledgements II
Transliteration III
Abbreviations IV
Table of figures V

INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER I: A Historical Survey 8
A. Early Translation Activities 10
1. Translation at the Imperial Dîvân (Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn) 10
2. Translation in the Imperial Fleet 21
3. Translation in the provinces 22
4. Translation in Foreign Embassies and Consulates 23
5. Eighteenth century translation attempts 28
B. Nineteenth Century: Translation in the Service of Reforms 30
1. Translation in the newly established schools 30
2. The Translation Office of the Sublime Porte (Bâb-ı ‘Âlî Tercüme
Odası) 32
3. The School of Languages (Madrasat al-Alsun) 38
4. The Academy of Knowledge (Encümen-i Dâniş) 42
5. The Translation Society (Tercüme Cemʻiyyeti) 44
6. The School of Language (Mektebü’l-Lisân) 45
7. The Grand Commission of Education (Meclis-i Kebîr-i Ma‘ârif) 46
8. The Department of Composition and Translation (Te’lif ve Tercüme
Dâiresi) 47
C. Learned Societies and Translation 48
D. Translation in Periodicals 51
E. An Overview of the Nineteenth Century Translations 53
F. Translators of the Late Ottoman Period 65
CHAPTER II: The Case of Télémaque 70
A. Fénelon and his Télémaque 71
B. Télémaque in the Ottoman world 75
C. Analysis of the first translations of the Télémaque in Arabic and Turkish82
1. Translators 82
a. Rifâʻa Râfiʻ al-Ṭahṭâwî 82
b. Yûsuf Kâmil Pasha 86
2. Translations 89
a. The Turkish translation 89
b. The Arabic translation 93
3. Language and Style 96
4. Content 101
5. New ideas 108
a. The fatherland (waṭan) and patriotism 113
b. The ruler: From Ẓill Allâh to Fatherhood 115
c. The rule of Law 119
d. Election of the ruler 125
e. How to rule 134
f. Public Education 153

CHAPTER III: Reception of the Télémaque 171
A. Channels of propagation 172
1. The new instrument of modernization: periodicals 173
2. Standardization of knowledge: encyclopedic works 177
3. Not only entertainment: literature 179
4. Objection: stick to our own culture! 181
5. More translations 185
B. New ideas naturalized in original texts 198
1. Münif Pasha’s memorandum (lâyiha) from Tehran 198
2. Al-Ṭahṭâwî’s Manâhij 204
CONCLUSION 214
Appendices 221
Appendix I: List of European literary and philosophical works translated into
Turkish 221
Appendix II: List of European literary and philosophical works translated into
Arabic 243
Appendix III: List of the translators of the Imperial Dîvân (Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn
Tercümanları) 248
Appendix IV: List of translators in Istanbul 250
Appendix V: List of translators in Cairo 255
Bibliography 260

Index 280

Nederlandse samenvatting 286

Curriculum vitae 293

Abstract

The dissertation examines late Ottoman intellectual history from the
perspective of its confrontation with Western ideas through translations in the
Ottoman capital Istanbul, and in a leading intellectual centre of the Ottoman
Empire, namely Cairo. It consists of three chapters. The first chapter surveys
the history of translation activity in the Ottoman Empire from its beginning to
the nineteenth century and, particularly, focuses on the nineteenth century
translation movement. The second chapter takes the Arabic and Turkish
translations of Fénelon’s Les aventures de Télémaque as a case study and
attempts to analyse the transmission of certain intellectual concepts through
translations; while the third chapter concentrates on the reception of new ideas
presented in the translations of the Télémaque and their impact on the process
of reform.

I
Acknowledgements

The subject of the dissertation was conceived in conversation with Prof.
Đsmail Kara of Marmara University, Istanbul, to whom I am very thankful. The
subject then developed and took form through the encouragement and counsel
of my supervisors Prof. Remke Kruk and Dr. Jan Schmidt of Leiden University.
Many people contributed to the dissertation in one way or another. I
would like to thank professors Muhammad Haridy, Majdy Bakr, Sami
Sulayman, Salah Fadl, Sabine Dorpmueller and Sait Özervarlı, who generously
discussed the project with me and offered excellent advice; to Đbrahim Tüfekçi
and Mustafa Küçük for their kind help in reading some difficult passages of
Arabic and Ottoman-Turkish texts; to the staff of the libraries of Leiden
University, ĐSAM, Ain Shams University, and American University in Cairo;
and to the Stichting Oosters Instituut for their contribution to my travel
expenses for research trips to Cairo and Istanbul. I would also like to thank
Stephen Millier who edited the text in a limited time.
I am thankful to all friends and colleagues in Leiden, Istanbul and Cairo
for not only devoting their time generously to discuss the project with me or
reading the draft of some parts of the dissertation, but also for their friendship
and hospitality, most especially to Gülbeyaz Karakuş, Yusuf Badr, Aliye
Uzunlar, Aisha Abdulwahid, Đsmail Hakkı Kadı, Umut Azak, Emine Güney,
Arzu Ünal, Fatma Boz and Emily Cottrell. I would also like to thank Esra
Doğan who provided me with early Persian translations of the Télémaque. I am
grateful to my parents Satı and Musa Meral for their support and patience
during this research. I am unable to find the words to express my gratitude to
the Reason of my life, Sebeb-i hayatım, without whom the dissertation could
not see the daylight.
I hope this study to be a humble contribution to Ottoman studies.

II
Transliteration

The Ottoman-Turkish words and names are transliterated according to modern
Turkish orthography. As for the transliteration of Arabic words and names, the
dissertation makes use of the following table. Long vowels are indicated with
(^), hamza with (’), and ayn with (ʻ).

b = ب z = ز f = ف

t = ت s = س q = ق

th = ث sh = ش k = ك

j = ج ṣ = ص l = ل

ḥ = ح ḍ = ض m = م

kh = خ ṭ = ط n = ن

d = د ẓ = ظ h = ه

dh = ذ ‘ = ع w = و

r = ر gh = غ y = ي

III