Işın, Ekrem. İstanbul'da Gündelik Hayat: Tarih, Kültür ve Mekân İlişkileri Üzerine
Toplumsal Tarih Denemeleri. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1999, 362pp.

ABSTRACT

Daily Life in Istanbul: Social History
Essays on History, Culture and Spatial Relations

İstanbul'da Gündelik Hayat: Tarih,
Kültür ve Mekân İlişkileri Üzerine Toplumsal Tarih Denemeleri

The book is a
compilation of the author’s articles, the first of which investigates in detail
the factors influencing the character of daily life in Istanbul. This long
article is divided into three sections: 1453 to 1520; 1520 to 1703, and the
period from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the first quarter of the
twentieth century.

The first part
of the essay deals with the period between 1453 and 1520. The author
investigates the factors that determine the development of daily life, and
focuses on issues such as Istanbul’s population, its neighbourhoods, the
compulsory emigration policies that brought people into the city from Anatolia
and the Balkans, and the creation of a neighbourhood culture which in turn
became the focal point in Ottoman daily life. He also talks about Istanbul’s
mosques, lodges (tekke) and mosque complexes (külliye) as the main places for
socialisation, as well as other structures that have played a part in the
development of a social character and life, such as inns (han), covered markets (bedesten) and markets. He provides detailed
information on the merchant/tradesmen class, who historically have played an
integral role in meeting the public’s needs.

In the second
part of the essay which he calls Classical Period (the period of 1520-1703), he
discusses the new lifestyles that emerged as the city became wealthier. Here,
he focuses on the appearance of new spaces that became part of daily life. The
closed way of life, which revolved around the home, the mosque and the market,
were substituted by other outdoor locations which in turn brought cultures
together. The author provides detailed information on the three main groups
that influenced daily life: merchants and tradesmen, scholars, and religious
fraternities. According to the author, Istanbul had gained her historical
character by the eighteenth century with a cultural mosaic enriching the city.
This traditional, multi-cultural mosaic began to disintegrate in the eighteenth
century, and after the first Constitution
(Tanzimat) its ruination
was accelerated. He provides less detail on the daily life in the
nineteenth century. He states that the concept of entertainment that developed
in this century was much more individualistic.

In the articles
that form the second part of the book, he looks at the social life of women
during the Tanzimat period, and
investigates the ways in which family life was affected by Western culture.
While talking about issues parallel to those relating to women and the family,
he includes the experiences of influential political characters and literary
persons, such as Ahmed Midhat Efendi, Abdullah Cevdet and Namık Kemal. The book
aims to shed light on daily life in Istanbul in the pre-Contemporary period and
makes a contribution to the existing literature on this subject.

Feryal
Tansuğ

Translated
by Aysu Dincer