Book presentation by Malte Fuhrmann (ZMO)

Eastern Mediterranean port cities, such as Constantinople, Smyrna, and Salonica, have long been sites of fascination. Known for their vibrant anddiverse populations, the dynamism of their economic and cultural exchanges, and their form of relatively peaceful co-existence in a turbulent age, many would label them as models of cosmopolitanism. In this study, Malte Fuhrmann examines changes in the histories of space, consumption, and identities in the nineteenth and early twentieth century while the Mediterranean became a zone of influence for European powers. Giving voice to the port cities’ forgotten inhabitants, Fuhrmann explores how their urban populations adapted to European practices, how entertainment became a marker of a Europeanized way of life, and consuming beer celebrated innovation, cosmopolitanism and mixed gender sociability. At the same time, these adaptations to a European way of life were modified according to local needs, as was the case for the new quays, streets, and buildings. Revisiting leisure practises as well as the formation of class, gender, and national identities, Fuhrmann offers an alternative view on the relationship between the Islamic World and Europe.

Dr. Malte Fuhrmann is a research fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO). Having spent many years doing research and teaching in Istanbul, he is the author of “Konstantinopel – Istanbul. Stadt der Sultane und Rebellen” (2019), “Der Traum vom deutschen Orient: Zwei deutsche Kolonien im Osmanischen Reich 1850-1918” (2006) and co-editor of “The City in the Ottoman Empire: Migration and the Making of Urban Modernity” (2011) with Ulrike Freitag, Nora Lafi, and Florian Riedler. He is currently working on a DFG-funded project on the evolution of developmental discourse in Bulgaria and Turkey in the debate on traffic infrastructure (1908-1989).

The event will be held via Zoom. Please register at registration@zmo.de