Late Ottoman Society, The Intellectual Legacy.

• Author: Ozcan, Tahsin
• Position: Book review

Late Ottoman Society, The Intellectual Legacy

Edited by Elizabeth Ozdalga

London and New York: Routledge, 2010 (First Published 2005), 348 pages, ISBN 9780415665445.

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STUDIES on late Ottoman society continue to be inviting for historians in many aspects. This period is not only important for historical research into the Ottoman world but also necessary for a better understanding of modern Turkey. This also can be extended to the Islamic world, including many Middle Eastern countries together with the Balkans, North Africa, and the Caucasus regions. Ozdalga has made a valuable contribution with this comprehensive volume on the intellectual legacy of the period.

The book is a result of a conference titled "The Ottoman Intellectual Heritage," which was held at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul on 15-17 March 2001. It included an introduction by Elisabeth Ozdalga and ten essays written by eminent experts of different aspects of the subject. The book deals with a period where radical political, social, economic, and intellectual changes and transformations had been realized in the Ottoman society. It was also a time where European expansionism and modernization became influential throughout Ottoman lands. The attitude of Ottoman intellectuals against such developments was determined based on their political, social, and economic positions. Their religious or ethnic identities were also characterized the way they reacted towards such developments.

Starting with Ottoman modernization, in her introduction, Ozdalga emphasizes that modernization, which started with the Tanzimat reforms gave way to the emergence of a new Ottoman intellectual. According to her, modern intellectuals became bearers of nationalist ideologies and they were independent of state, tribal relationships, and institutionalized religion. However, they also had their opponents, including Islamists and Ottomanists. Despite the ignorance of Turkish historians, modern Turkey was a result of this intellectual heritage and she emphasizes, "Late Ottoman society was a social order where a wide variety of ideas and streams of thought competed." The aim of the book she states is "to illuminate along what trajectories Turkish intellectuals have followed the path to modern society."

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