The vision of civilization in the new Ottomans

In this study, it will be discussed how and in what way the members of the New Ottomans, who are known as the architects of innovation with their pens and ideas in the 19th century of the Ottoman Empire, used the concept of civilization. The members of the society, who contributed to many changes in the political, cultural and intellectual fields, brought new concepts to the Ottoman literary world. Concepts are of particular importance in defining and understanding individuals and societies. For this reason, the word civilization; It is very important because it has the identity of a tool that serves the ideas of social identity and belonging. The relationship of the New Ottomans Society with the Western world, the source and sphere of influence of the collected concepts include profound differences in the understanding and practice within the Ottoman Empire. In order to reveal these differences, the etymological adventure of the word civilization was included in the thesis and a comparative method was adopted. By revealing the political and social dimension of the word, it was stated that the concept took on an ideological and sociological expression in the Ottoman Empire. The aim of our study of the conception of civilization, which is handled with its own realities by the members of the society in their own mental and moral framework, is to reveal the general change created by the arrival of the word civilization in the Ottoman lands. The process of change and transformation of the concept, from its emergence in Europe to the Ottoman lands, has been followed. It is aimed to compile the ideas of thinkers about this general evolution, to expand the perspective of history, to collect vague and scattered information about Turkish modernization, and to eliminate the need for a study in the composition of all this information. It is very important to examine the framework of the concepts of civilization and culture in order to understand the course, place and meaning of modernization in the Ottoman and Turkish world. In addition to all these, the discussions of the concept in the world literature have been put forward and our place among these discussions has been explained. In addition to the use of the concept as a political material, it has been specifically mentioned that it is used as a belonging and identity construction for the New Ottomans Society. The concept of civilization, which was embedded in the Ottoman society as a reflection in its own periods and in the world of mind, maintains its ambiguity in terms of definition and content for today. Thesis studies on the New Ottomans Society are mostly in the literature department. History department, on the other hand, focuses on the political existence of the society. In addition to all these studies, it is essential to examine the society of the New Ottomans, as they are at a key point for Turkish modernization in civilization history studies. Primary sources to be used in our study; The newspapers of the period, publications, dictionaries, memoirs and individual works of the members of the society. In addition to these, the documents preserved in the understanding and interpretation of the period were compiled, and the state libraries and archives were scanned.