Church bells, cannons, and talking machines: Sounding devices and the "modernization" of Late Ottoman Istanbul

This dissertation investigates how the Ottoman state and the inhabitants of late Ottoman Istanbul understood and dealt with several sounding devices found in the city: church bells, cannons, and talking machines (the gramophone and the phonograph). Focusing on their legal, political, and cultural status and examining how the state and its inhabitants perceived, used, and regulated these sounding objects, this study argues that the Ottoman capital's modernization was an auditory as well as a visual phenomenon. Based on three case-studies of sounding devices as organizing principle, the chapters provide a history of Istanbul's modernization between 1826 and 1923 from an auditory perspective. This study observes people's sensorial experiences, perceptions of modernization, as well as the Ottoman state's multifaceted mediation between numerous institutions to control the sounds that these devices made, and in doing so investigates how the changing auditory environment altered the culture of hearing and signified a shift in power balances for the state. By combining political, legal, and cultural backgrounds with personal narratives, this dissertation also shows how the existing body of data, both written and visual, can be employed from an auditory perspective and contribute to our understanding of Ottoman modernization, culture, and politics.