From the province to the centre: Translocal perspectives and representations of Istanbul in the travelogue of the Aleppan Ḥannā ṭ-Ṭabīb
Feras Krimsti
The extensive and until now unpublished travelogue written by the Aleppan physician Ḥannā ṭ-Ṭabīb, who, in the 18th century, undertook a journey from Aleppo to Istanbul and recorded his experiences, documents the widening horizons of the erudite inhabitants of Bilād ash-Shām on the eve of modernity and attests to the beginning of transformative changes. Within the framework of the PhD project, it will be examined in which way the capital Istanbul was perceived and represented by the Maronite physician. In doing so, the multifariousness of the travelogue genre has to be taken into consideration: literary fiction as well as medium of cognition and knowledge, allowing construction as well as reproduction, the travelogue sheds light on translocal perspectives, i.e. the conceptualization of relations reaching beyond the local sphere. By means of a comparative study of Ḥannā ṭ-Ṭabīb’s travelogue and other Arab accounts about journeys to Istanbul from the same period, representations of the relations between centre and province in 17th and 18th century Ottoman Empire shall be examined and a contribution be made to the study of the social history in the Arab-Ottoman world.
|
