Osmanlı çılgınlığı: Türkiye'de Osmanlı geçmişine dair yeni anlatımlar

AbstractThis thesis examines Ottomania, a neologism for the rise of the Ottoman element in popular culture, political discourse and popular history in Turkey. Ottomania is an area of research which stands in the intersection of popular culture, everyday life, identity construction and rewriting of history in Turkey. The most important aim of this study is to understand how Turkish people from different backgrounds relate to the phenomenon of Ottomania and how they construct the Ottoman Past through their narratives. Moving from the idea that people digest the past that is out there differently thus use the Ottoman history differently to build their identities I conducted a research in three cities in Turkey: İstanbul, Kayseri and İzmir with twenty five people with different educational, gender, political and religious backgrounds.In this study I examine Ottomania through four indicators. These indicators are the perception towards consuming Ottoman theme artifacts, the view towards Muhteşem Yüzyıl (a Turkish TV series on Ottoman Empire), evaluation of Ottoman theme photo shoot and the reception of Mehter (Ottoman military band). I argue that consuming or not consuming Ottoman theme artifacts become a means to emphasize distinction in Turkish society. The search for authenticity and the necessity to distinguish the imitation become a tool for the middle classes to show their position in Turkish society. Second I show how people who don?t like Muhteşem Yüzyıl base their dislike on very different reasons which show the multiplicity of contrasting constructs of the Ottoman past in people?s minds.Through research data I show multiple narratives built around Ottoman Empire in current Turkish conjuncture. There are five sub-themes and three bigger clusters which define the Ottoman past for Turkish people. The three bigger clusters are the ancién regime, the long lost golden past, and the neutral Ottoman past with both good and bad deeds. Five subthemes are the Ottoman Empire as a multicultural entity with religious and political tolerance, Ottomans as ancestors of Turks, Ottoman Empire as the carrier of the Muslim flag, Ottoman Empire as a burden on Turkey and lastly Ottoman Empire as in Muhteşem Yüzyıl.Keywords: Ottomania, multiple narratives of Ottoman past, popular culture, consumption, Turkey