Taming the Messiah: The Formation of an Ottoman Political Public Sphere, 1600–1700 (Hardcover)

Taming the Messiah: The Formation of an Ottoman Political Public Sphere, 1600–1700 By Aslihan Gurbuzel Cover Image
Out-of-Stock

Description


In the history of the Ottoman Empire, the seventeenth century has often been considered an anomaly, characterized by political dissent and social conflict. In this book, Aslıhan Gürbüzel shows how the early modern period was, in fact, crucial to the formation of new kinds of political agency that challenged, negotiated with, and ultimately reshaped the Ottoman social order. By uncovering the histories of these new political voices and documenting the emergence of a robust public sphere, Gürbüzel challenges two common assumptions: first, that the ideal of public political participation originated in the West; and second, that civic culture was introduced only with Westernization efforts in the nineteenth century. Contrary to these assumptions, which measure the Ottoman world against an idealized European prototype, Taming the Messiah offers a new method of studying public political life by focusing on the variety of religious visions and lifeworlds native to Ottoman society and the ways in which they were appropriated and repurposed in the pursuit of new forms of civic engagement.

About the Author


Aslıhan Gürbüzel is Assistant Professor of Ottoman History at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal.

Praise For…


"Offers a fascinating insight into the intellectual history of the pre-modern Ottoman world. . . . Taming the Messiah will certainly not tame your intellectual curiosity for Ottoman intellectual history; it is likely to whet your appetite for more 17th century treats."
— Middle East Monitor
Product Details
ISBN: 9780520388215
ISBN-10: 0520388216
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Pages: 332
Language: English