Discourse on self inflicted death and rising psy sciences in the late Ottoman Empire

This thesis revolves around the question: "What is the discourse created by various authorities regarding suicide as a case in the 19th century Ottoman Empire?" The authorities considered include legal administrations, forensic sciences, judicial investigations, statistics, newspapers as part of public opinion, and psy-sciences. One of the claims of this study is that the changes exhibited by these authorities throughout the 19th century can be traced through the domain of suicide. The study is divided into two parts. The first part examines how suicide is addressed as a judicial case through 19th century legal documents, how suicide is represented in statistical data collection mechanisms, and the language, representation, and content of suicide related news in Ottoman newspapers as part of public opinion. The second part of the study conceptualizes suicide as a field and investigates the rise of psy-sciences as a scientific authority in the late Ottoman Empire. The investigation and discourse surrounding the suicides of Sultan Abdülaziz, Beşir Fuad, Sadullah Paşa, and Yusuf İzzeddin, as well as the use and representation of psy-sciences in these cases, are examined.