Naima`s (1655-1716) court chronicle: A narratological analysis of the significative function of Ottoman historiography

• Applicant: Dr. Gül Sen
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 289665156

Subject of the proposal is the historical-critical and narratological analysis of the Ottoman court chronicle Tarih-i Naima, which covers the period from 1591 till 1659 and written by the official court chronicler Mustafa Naima, with a particular focus on the narrative strategies as an integral part of the signification process. Without first establishing both its genre-specific boundaries as well as the narrative strategies employed in this key text for understanding societal and evenemential of the Ottoman Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries can hardly be analyzed in a historical-critical mode. Thus over and above mining this text for dates and facts this court chronicle will be analyzed as literature. In a new and innovative way, this court chronicle will first and foremost be examined as a literary text (rather than a source to be fleeced for historical fact). Therefore, the focus will be on the transformation process from a story into a narrative, which functions as a historiographical creation of signification. To this end, recent methodological approaches from the field of literary studies will be applied. While literary studies, oriented towards cultural studies, in combination with a historical-critical methodology can help us situate the text in its social context, the narrative structures of this text will be identified by the application of narratological questions and methods. The work under examination is distinguished by the rich amount of material for such an analysis. A narratological analysis of the chronicle will help identify the larger intentions (key word: creation of signification) of this chronicle. This will be achieved in a three-step analysis: First, the concept of history inherent in the text will be examined, second the strategies to cope with experiences of contingency, and finally the legitimization viz. de-legitimization of the powers that be. Thus, the work will be (a) classified within its historical context, in accordance to the theories of genre, (b) analyzed under narratological aspects and (c) its significative function will be scrutinized. As a key text dating from the initial phase of development of the genre of Ottoman court historiography the Tarih-i Naima suggests itself for such a systematic analysis because until now this work has neither been regarded as a text, nor its function for the creation of signification has been analyzed. To determine the place of the text within its socio-political context based on sound textual analysis, its narratology and a classification accordance to the theories of genre, as well as the subsequent discussion of its significative function will, on the one hand, contribute in a significant way to research on the Ottoman mental history, and, on the other hand, reinforce in an exemplary way links between research in pre-modern historiography, in particular with respect to court chronicles and inter-disciplinary questions and approaches.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants