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One of the more important processes of Middle Eastern history is that of the transformation of the Ottoman Empire into the Turkish national state. The present dissertation demonstrates how Yusuf Akçura, a significant figure in this process, recognized in 1904 the forces making for the emergence of a Turkish nation and was the first to call for the political reconstruction of the Ottoman Empire on the basis of Turkish nationalism.

The issue raised in this thesis is the importance of dealing with the security of Ottoman women--from the 16th century to the Tanzimat (Reform) Era (1839--1876)--and the significance of this subject in understanding the Ottoman society in general. The thesis raises the point that if sources such as court records, fetvas (religious verdicts), and travelers' reports draw a somewhat different picture of the Ottoman woman from the popular image of the "oppressed woman," then it is important to know how this picture differs. Examination of these sources shows that they actually confirm one another from different perspectives. The thesis also explores how the metaphysical underpinnings of Ottoman society provided an atmosphere conducive to women's security. It attempts to find an answer to the underlying question, 'What motivated these women to take action?' by examining their physical, financial, and marital related security.

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This dissertation examines the discourse generated by students and teachers at an American missionary school in Constantinople (Istanbul) between 1871, the year the school was founded, and 1923, the year of the Ottoman Empire's end and the Turkish Republic's beginning. From its position as religious proselytizer in a locale that was not a Western colony, the American College for Girls (also known as Constantinople Woman's College) gradually re-presented itself as a secular, independent institution of higher learning that offered a modem education in the English language to Ottoman women of diverse religious and linguistic backgrounds. The College's re-imaging occurred in response to local conditions: although missionaries had found Protestant evangelism to be largely ineffective, many Ottoman families desired a Western education for their daughters. In addition, the American female teachers in Constantinople found intellectual and professional opportunities for their own development that they likely would not have had access to in the United States. Thus, the Americans' moderation of their religious rhetoric occurred in response to: 1) their role within the shifting objectives of the missionary movement; 2) the demands of their Ottoman clientele for a Western-style education for women; and 3) their personal desires to preserve their professional status as college-level educators. Nonetheless, in its pedagogical discourse and in its depictions of students, the College's rhetorical production exhibits racialized views of "nation" as well as an Orientalist, in Edward Said's meaning of the term, view of the school's role as Western educator. Similarly, the College's continual blurring of the designations of "race" and "nation," in which the students are always viewed within their racialized, "national" identities, exemplifies Homi Bhabha's categories of colonial ambivalence and mimicry. This dissertation, while acknowledging the American teachers' complicity in the construction and repetition of Orientalist discourse and the Ottoman students' internalization of this racializing discourse, also problematizes current postcolonial theoretical assumptions by identifying a mutuality of purpose within the discourse of the Ottoman students and the American teachers in the non-colonial but still "Oriental" late Ottoman Empire. / Department of English

Conventionally, the era that begins after the death of celebrated Ottoman sultan Suleyman I in 1566 is seen as the beginning of Ottoman decline. In line with the decline paradigm, late sixteenth century is also accepted as a time of political turmoil. This period is characterized by constant power struggles among Ottoman ruling elite and the deterioration of the classical Ottoman political order. Concerning the rise of new power elite (favourites) in the court and bureaucracy vis-a-vis the decreasing power of the sultans and grand vezirs, "evil counsellors" and the inaccessibility of the Ottoman sultan were chronic themes in the Ottoman Empire. Yet, at the same time, in most of the Ottoman political treatises access to and privacy with the sultan is restricted to a very limited number of the servants of the court and bureaucracy. Especially the communication between the sultan and the grand vezir is advised to be a secret. In view of this important political dictum, in the present study it is argued that the power also came from and built by the monopoly on information about the matters of state by the least number of people. In accordance with this view, the power politics of the late sixteenth century Ottoman political arena is analyzed as struggles over controlling the flow of information about the matters of state.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Inaug.-diss.--Greifswald. / Lebenslauf. "Literaturyerzeichnis": p. ix-xii.

Thesis (M.A.)--UCLA, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 425-440).

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Genève. / Bibliography": p. [167]-169.