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Empire of salons : conquest and community in early modern Ottoman Lands / Helen Pfeifer.

By: Pfeifer, Helen, 1984- [author.]Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2022Description: xi, 297 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780691195230Other title: Conquest and community in early modern Ottoman LandsSubject(s): Ghazzī, Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1499-1577 | Salons -- Syria -- Damascas -- History -- 16th century | Salons -- Turkey -- Istanbul -- History -- 16th century | Political culture -- Turkey -- History -- 16th century | Salons -- Egypt -- History -- 16th century | Associations, institutions, etc. -- Turkey -- History -- 16th century | HISTORY / Middle East / Turkey & Ottoman Empire | POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Diplomacy | Turkey -- History -- 1453-1683 | Arab countries -- Intellectual life | Turkey -- History -- Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918 | Damascus (Syria) -- History -- 16th century | Istanbul (Turkey) -- History -- 16th centuryAdditional physical formats: Online version:: Empire of salonsDDC classification: 956/.015 LOC classification: DR486 | .P44 2022Other classification: HIS055000 | POL011010
Contents:
A World Divided -- An Empire Connecting -- A Place in the Elite -- The Art of Conversation -- The Transmission of Knowledge -- An Empire Polarized.
Summary: "Historians have typically linked Ottoman imperial cohesion in the sixteenth century to the bureaucracy or the sultan's court. In Empire of Salons, Helen Pfeifer points instead to a critical but overlooked factor: gentlemanly salons. Pfeifer demonstrates that salons-exclusive assemblies in which elite men displayed their knowledge and status-contributed as much as any formal institution to the empire's political stability. These key laboratories of Ottoman culture, society, and politics helped men to build relationships and exchange ideas across the far-flung Ottoman lands. Pfeifer shows that salons played a central role in Syria and Egypt's integration into the empire after the conquest of 1516-17. Pfeifer anchors her narrative in the life and network of the star scholar of sixteenth-century Damascus, Badr al-Dīn al-Ghazzī (d. 1577), and she reveals that Arab elites were more influential within the empire than previously recognized. Their local knowledge and scholarly expertise competed with, and occasionally even outshone, that of the most powerful officials from Istanbul. Ultimately, Ottoman culture of the era was forged collaboratively, by Arab and Turkophone actors alike. Drawing on a range of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish sources, Empire of Salons illustrates the extent to which magnificent gatherings of Ottoman gentlemen contributed to the culture and governance of empire"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books The BIAA David H. French Library
Shelf 62 - Reading Room 		H2n PFEIF 33264 Not for loan BOOKS-000000027380

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-288) and index.

A World Divided -- An Empire Connecting -- A Place in the Elite -- The Art of Conversation -- The Transmission of Knowledge -- An Empire Polarized.

"Historians have typically linked Ottoman imperial cohesion in the sixteenth century to the bureaucracy or the sultan's court. In Empire of Salons, Helen Pfeifer points instead to a critical but overlooked factor: gentlemanly salons. Pfeifer demonstrates that salons-exclusive assemblies in which elite men displayed their knowledge and status-contributed as much as any formal institution to the empire's political stability. These key laboratories of Ottoman culture, society, and politics helped men to build relationships and exchange ideas across the far-flung Ottoman lands. Pfeifer shows that salons played a central role in Syria and Egypt's integration into the empire after the conquest of 1516-17. Pfeifer anchors her narrative in the life and network of the star scholar of sixteenth-century Damascus, Badr al-Dīn al-Ghazzī (d. 1577), and she reveals that Arab elites were more influential within the empire than previously recognized. Their local knowledge and scholarly expertise competed with, and occasionally even outshone, that of the most powerful officials from Istanbul. Ultimately, Ottoman culture of the era was forged collaboratively, by Arab and Turkophone actors alike. Drawing on a range of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish sources, Empire of Salons illustrates the extent to which magnificent gatherings of Ottoman gentlemen contributed to the culture and governance of empire"-- Provided by publisher.