Family, companions, and death: Seyyid Hasan Nuri Efendi's microcosm (1661-1665)

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2058022 (Table of Contents)

This thesis is an exercise on Seyyid Hasan Nûrî Efendi’s diary, the sâlnâmes kept between 1661- 1665 and recognized as the Sohbetnâme in the secondary literature. Under the influence of recent German/Swiss scholarship on the study of self-narratives, especially the studies of such scholars as Kaspar von Greyerz and Gabriele Jancke, this thesis maintains that early modern diaries differ from the diaries written in the modern era in terms of their reflection on the individual characters of their authors, arguing that they are testimonies of culture and ethos of the social groups in which they were produced. Inserting this argument into an empirical study of Hasan Efendi’s diary, the first chapter attempts to make a technical and contextual analysis of the document, following a biography of Hasan Efendi. Based on the idea that early modern diaries can provide insight into prosopographical studies, the second chapter investigates the social relationships of the author Hasan Efendi in three expanding realms: (1) His family, (2) his everyday encounters such as his companions and people from his lodge, (3) his high-ranking acquaintances and people from rarely encountered lines. Finally, the third chapter deals with the theme of death, which is frequently encountered in the diary as part of Hasan Efendi’s social world. Investigating the theme from social, folkloric, and historical anthropological perspectives, this chapter seeks to understand the responses to death in the sâlnâmes around the concepts of bereavement, ritual, and rivalry.