Ders

This course will focus on a selected few masterpieces of Ottoman artistic and literary production, picked on the basis of not only their high aesthetic qualities, but also their representativeness across different genres and historical periods. A problem-oriented approach, therefore, may and shall be woven around them, but by starting with the works themselves, and proceeding from them to explore successive and ever-expanding backgrounds, instead of creating a relatively "complete" or continuous narrative of cultural history from the outset and submerging a much larger number of works within it. As key examples to be subjected to such close "readings," the following have been tentatively opted for : From the triumphant imperial moment of the 16th century, (1) Mimar Sinan's Süleymaniye mosque and complex; (2) İznik wall-tiles at Rüstem Paşa mosque; and (3) Nakkaş Osman's pictorial eulogy of the dynasty Hünernâme; from the early 18th, late 18th, and early 19th centuries, (4) Levnî's Book of Festivals (Surnâme-i Vehbi); (5) Nedim's poetry; (6) Antoine-Ignace Melling's Hadice Sultan waterfront palace at Defterdarburnu; and (7) Itrî's musical output. It is thereby proposed to introduce students both to a whole range of modes of expression (such as monumental religious architecture, decorative programs of line and colour, the arts of the book, the ruling elite's changing "theater of life" and consumption patterns, and the conventions of composition), and to analytical perspectives on two main periods of Ottoman history with their specific power relations, socio-economic problems, ideological re-adjustments, sensitivities and outlooks. In addition to the existing pre-requisite " to have completed 23 credits" for this course , a new condition will be added as "to complete SPS 101 and SPS 102 courses at least with D grade" as of the Fall semester of 2015-2016 Academic Year. Students who failed from SPS 101 and SPS 102 courses, do not have right to take this course.