Palace and city ceremonials

This is the latest version of this item.

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004468566_007

This paper examines the dynamics and the role of ceremonial occasions in the gradual transformation of Istanbul to the seat of the throne in the course of the sixteenth century. Through visualizing the state, various ceremonial events helped marking the center as the center. Fusing the dynastic, administrative, military, and even civic elements palace and city ceremonials continously defined and re-defined the state for all to see and internalize. While the ceremonial events served as both a mirror of and a model for contemporary power relations and social order, the political and ideological messages communicated through these occasions helped construct and consolidate the political reality. The role of discursive performance in establishing and reinforcing the status quo was further enhanced by the spatial and temporal associations of the city itself. Not only were the performative elements of ceremonial events recurrent, repetitive and somewhat standardized, but the sites where they were performed also added to the sense of stability and continuity.