by Malte Fuhrmann[1]
- Publisher : S. FISCHER; 1. edition (23 Oct. 2019)
- Language : German
- Hardcover : 464 pages
- ISBN-10 : 3103972628
- ISBN-13 : 978-3103972627
Mavi Boncuk | A historical journey through Istanbul, from Justinian to Erdoğan: The historian Malte Fuhrmann has lived in the city on the Bosphorus for many years - here he tells of the ghosts of the city that are omnipresent in the old walls, of rebellious janissaries and plundering crusaders, of Court intrigues and bloody union demonstrations.
Istanbul is a city of diversity and contradictions, full of history and stories. Christianity and Islam, Europe and Asia, but also rulers and rebels meet there, as in 2013 at Gezi Park. Malte Fuhrmann takes this event, which he witnessed himself, as the starting point for his journey through time, from Constantinople under Justinian to the conquest of the city by Mehmed II and Erdoğan.
This book is a treasure trove of discoveries for anyone who wants to explore Istanbul and understand Turkey today. Lively and captivating like the city itself.
See also:
Der Traum vom deutschen Orient: Zwei deutsche Kolonien im Osmanischen Reich 1851-1918
Port Cities of the Eastern Mediterranean: Urban Culture in the Late Ottoman Empire, Cambridge: University Press 2020, 480 pages.
Down and out on the quays of İzmir: ‘European’ musicians, innkeepers, and prostitutes in the Ottoman port-cities
Mediterranean Historical Review
Volume 24, 2009 - Issue 2: The late Ottoman port-cities and their inhabitants: subjectivity, urbanity, and conflicting ordersOne of the factors that contributed to the late nineteenth-century Europeanization of Ottoman urban society was the entertainment sector, in particular bars, music halls and brothels. In the big cities of Rumelia and western Anatolia, a relevant number of the workforce in this sector originated from countries such as Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy or France; they exposed local society to new forms of sociability. This article is intended as an initial step in assessing the impact of coastal popular culture in shaping Hamidian port-city society. It tackles the question of whether it is possible to write such a history with a perspective of agency, by focusing on the people on stage or behind the bar, their migratory background, life-stories, and worldviews. It distinguishes between three milieus: musicians organized in orchestras; individual singers, dancers, bar or pension owners; and prostitutes and pimps or traffickers. All three seem to have retained a liminal lifestyle, with one foot in their place of origin and the other in the region they operated in. Despite their constant interaction with customers or audiences, integration into local society was not the rule, but an exception. The respective milieu of persons engaged in similar semi-itinerant entertainment work was the predominant group of social organization.
[1] Current research area:
Developmentality in Southeast Europe: The evolution of the development discourse in Bulgaria and Turkey in the transport infrastructure debate (1908-1989)
Regional focus:
Eastern Mediterranean; Southeastern Europe; Habsburg, Ottoman, and German Empires and their successor states
Dr. Malte Fuhrmann Publications