Cumhuriyet’in kuruluşunun yüzüncü yılı vesilesiyle, Leiden Üniversitesi Türkiye Çalışmaları ekibi olarak 2019 yılının son çeyreğinde toplu bir eser ortaya koyma kararı aldık. Türünün ilk örneği... Show moreCumhuriyet’in kuruluşunun yüzüncü yılı vesilesiyle, Leiden Üniversitesi Türkiye Çalışmaları ekibi olarak 2019 yılının son çeyreğinde toplu bir eser ortaya koyma kararı aldık. Türünün ilk örneği olarak uzman yazarların okurlara siyasetten ekonomiye, toplumdan kültüre, cinsiyetten sanata kadar geniş bir konu yelpazesinde tarihsel kaynakları tanıttığı ve tartıştığı yüz yazı üzerinden Cumhuriyet Türkiye’sinin yüz yıllık serüvenini keşfetme imkânı sağlamak amacıyla yola çıktık. Amacımız, tarihin sayfalarını çevirirken, geçmişin anlarını ve anılarını yeniden canlandıran yasalar, mektuplar, gazete makaleleri, şiirler ve daha fazlası ile, her dönemin farklı atmosferini, geçmişin seslerini ve renklerini yakalamaktı. Ülkenin her anlamda çok yönlü tarihine ışık tutmanın yanı sıra, aynı zamanda Türkiye’nin bugününü ve yarınını anlamak için elzem olan geçmiş söylemlerinden ve imgelerinden bir seçki ortaya koymak gerekliliğini sahiplendik. Cumhuriyet Türkiye’sinin tarihinde derin izler bırakan anlar ve anılar, sadece geçmişin kaybolmuşluğu veya uzak yankıları değil, aynı zamanda bugünü ve yarını da şekillendiren bir bütünün parçaları olarak düşünülmelidir. İşte Leiden Üniversitesi Yayınları’ndan 1 Ekim 2023’te çıkan A Hundred Years of Republican Turkey: A History in a Hundred Fragments kitabımız, bu anları ve anıları yakalamak, bir araya getirmek ve geleceğe taşımak için hazırlandı. Show less
The exhibition On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, a History takes the allure and amazement of the 360-degree urban image as its starting point and moves on to historicize the power of this... Show moreThe exhibition On the Spot: Panoramic Gaze on Istanbul, a History takes the allure and amazement of the 360-degree urban image as its starting point and moves on to historicize the power of this panoramic effect. It thinks through different media and materialities, following the variations of Istanbul’s representations in massive displays in purpose-built London halls as well as in the dining halls of Bosporus mansions. It explores the divergent paths that panoramic images of Istanbul have taken since the early modern period and reconsiders the connections and contestations between different styles, techniques, media, viewpoints, audiences, and circulation strategies.The accompanying catalog follows the exhibition’s suite in its historical outlook on the panoramic medium and Istanbul’s place within it. After the introduction by the curators that lays out their perspective on the history of panoramas, seven articles by Erkki Huhtamo, Çiğdem Kafescioğlu, Hilal Uğurlu, M. Baha Tanman, Ahmet A. Ersoy, K. Mehmet Kentel, Namık Günay Erkal and Tarkan Okçuoğlu explore different facets of this history. Show less
In the centenary year of the Republic of Turkey, there is a need for a new approach to history writing. The crisis that the AKP regime has dragged Turkey into has demonstrated the necessity of... Show moreIn the centenary year of the Republic of Turkey, there is a need for a new approach to history writing. The crisis that the AKP regime has dragged Turkey into has demonstrated the necessity of reevaluating post-Kemalist revisionism in Turkish Studies. The transitional period from the Empire to the Republic is a field dominated by post-Kemalist literature. This article aims to reevaluate the impact of post-Kemalist literature on historiography, particularly by revisiting commonly accepted assumptions and interpretations regarding the “Young Turk” Committee of Union and Progress. While post-Kemalist approaches, which have made significant contributions to the studies of identity and minority issues, have confronted the dark legacy left by the Young Turks on the Republic, attributing all the dark events in the history of the Republic solely to a Unionist curse can lead to flawed historical interpretations. First, in post-Kemalist literature, it is problematic to distort the continuity thesis from Unionism to Kemalism into a thesis of singularity and immutability. In fact, there lies a transformative process shaped by competition and conflicts beneath continuity. Second, although many post-Kemalist approaches exhibit a critical stance towards Turkish nationalism, they inadvertently strengthen a narrative of Turkism by falling into the trap of methodological nationalism. Instead of solely viewing the empire as a precursor to a future nation-state, it is necessary to examine it within its own context and timeframe. Understanding the diversity, variability, and relationality of nationalism, without neglecting the complexity of historical processes, requires analyzing it not as the cause or result, but as an influential factor. The issue of Young Turks will remain a subject of controversy in the second century of the Republic’s history because the Young Turks assumed simultaneously the dual roles of destroyers/perpetrators and founders/protectors during the transition from the Empire to the Republic. These two analytical dimensions should neither be considered separately nor contradictory. Show less
