Material culture elements in Taşlıcalı Yahya's Şah û Geda Masnavi

This study investigates Şah u Gedâ, a mesnevi composed by Taşlıcalı Yahya, one of the prominent poets of the sixteenth-century Ottoman literary milieu, through the lens of material culture. Possessing an allegorical structure and belonging to the tradition of dual-hero love mesnevis, the work incorporates numerous references to the social, cultural, and historical environment of its era. The primary objective of the thesis is to identify the traces of sixteenth-century Ottoman material culture reflected in the text and to elucidate their literary functions. While the research adopts an interdisciplinary perspective—drawing on literature, history, sociology, anthropology, and art history—it is fundamentally grounded in close textual analysis. Within this framework, the couplets of the mesnevi were examined, the material elements were classified, and each item was analyzed in relation to both everyday life and the symbolic and metaphorical universe of classical Ottoman poetry. The study discusses examples concerning means of production, musical instruments, everyday objects, weaponry, clothing, food and beverages, ornaments and jewelry, writing and book culture, modes of transportation, construction materials, precious stones and metals, as well as religious and mystical concepts. The analyses reveal that these elements not only mirror the material life of the period but also contribute significantly to the allegorical structure, thematic depth, and aesthetic composition of the work. Ultimately, Şah u Gedâ emerges as a mesnevi in which material culture operates simultaneously as a historical source and a literary symbol. In this respect, the study demonstrates that Ottoman divan poetry serves as a valuable cultural archive, reflecting the socio-historical realities of its time and illustrating how material objects acquire renewed and layered meanings within a literary context.