Cover not available

In:Translation Flows: Exploring networks of people, processes and products
Edited by Ilse Feinauer, Amanda Marais and Marius Swart
[Benjamins Translation Library 163] 2023
► pp. 87–103

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 5
From intersection to interculture

How the classical Ottoman intercultural scene came to be

 | Boğaziçi University
Published online: 9 October 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.163.05ozt
Abstract
The present chapter explores some of the pre-Ottoman cultural dynamics in the Middle East that led to the meeting of Turkish, Arabic and Persian as densely intercrossing languages in the formation of the classical Ottoman cultural sphere. It aims to chart the movement of people, knowledge, customs, practices and centers of power across the Middle East in a historical survey that will offer a networked flow of such movements and highlight the place of translation in the process. It roughly covers the period from the 5th century to the 14th century, which is about a hundred years into the start of the Ottoman empire in the region.
The central premise is that the historical flows between the three cultures associated with Arabic, Persian and Turkish led to the classical Ottoman setting of interculture (Paker 2002), whereby Ottoman translators engaged with Persian and Arabic as both source languages and language components of an Ottoman epistemic discourse. It highlights the degree to which cultural input can be influenced by intercultural transfers in several domains such as science, literature, bureaucracy, education and religion.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The Ottoman interculture
  • Translation history and transfer maps
  • Connecting dots, charting flows
    • From pre-Islamic encounters to the Baghdad School
      • Pre-Islamic encounters
      • From Alexandria to Jundishapur
      • From Jundishapur to Baghdad
    • The Abbasid context
      • Arabs and Persians
      • Arabs and Turks
      • Turks and Persians
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (61)
References
Al-Durūbī, Samīr. 2017. “Ḥarakat al-Tarjama wa al-Taʿrīb fī Dīwān al-Inshāʾ al-Mamlūkī: Al-Bawāʿith wa al-Lughāt wa al-Mutarjamāt.” Majallat Majma al-Lugha al-Arabiyya al-Urdunī 62, 1–62.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ağırakça, Ahmet. 2000. “İhşîdîler.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, [URL].
Alican, Musatafa. 2016. “Türklerin kurduğu ilk İslam devleti: Tolunoğulları.” Beyaz Tarih, October 19, [URL].
Aksu, Ali. 2008. “İmam İbrahim’in Ebû Müslim’e Gönderdiği Mektup Bağlamında Abbâsî İhtilal Hareketinde Etnik Grupların Rolü.” İSTEM 6(12), 53–70.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Akün, Ömer Faruk. 2022. “Kâşgarlı Mahmud.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2022. [URL].
Akyürek, Yunus. 2013. “Emevîler Dönemi Fetih Politikası ve Mâverâünnehir’in Fethi.” T.C Uludağ Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 22(1), 85–115.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Altıntaş, Ayten. 2007. “Selçuklu Tıbbı.” In Tıp tarihi ve tıp etiği ders kitabı, 83–86. Istanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi Matbaası.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
ʿAwaḍ, Ibrāhīm al-Sayyid Shaḥāta. 2009. “Al-Ḥayāt al-fikriyya fī Miṣr fī ʿahd al-Dawla al-Ikshīdiyya”, Phd thesis (Cairo University, 2009).
Aydınlı, Osman. 2007. “Süryani Bilginlerin Çeviri Faaliyeti ve Mu’tezilî Düşünceye Etkisi.” Hitit Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 6(11), 7–33.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bae, Chul-hyun. 2004. “Aramaic as a Lingua Franca During the Persian Empire (538–333 B.C.E.).” Journal of Universal Language 5, 1–20. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blumenthal, H. J. 1978. “529 and its sequel: What happened to the Academy?” Byzantium 48(2), 369–385.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bozkurt, Fuat. 2018. Türklerin Dini. Konya: Salon Yayınları.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cihan, Cihad. 2015. “Türk-Sasani Askerî İttifakları ve Sasani Ordusunda Türkler.” Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 12(32), 89–107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Çapan, Fatma. 2019. “İslam Dünyası’nda bimaristanlar ve gelişme süreçleri.” Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences 18(3), 1205–1219. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Çay, Abdülhaluk Mehmet. 2009. Tarih: Türkiye Tarihi (Selçuklu Devri). Ankara: Türkiye Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Çelik, Mehmet. 2010. “Süryânîler.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2010. [URL].
Durant, Will. 1988. Qiṣṣat al-Ḥaḍāra, translated by Zakī Najīb Maḥmūd et al. Beirut, Lebonan: Dār al-Jīl.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eckmann, János. 1963. “The Mamluk-Kipchak Literature.” Central Asiatic Journal 8(4), 304–319.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Emecen, Feridun. 2012. “Uç Beyi.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2012. [URL].
Even-Zohar, Itamar. 1990. “Polysystem Theory.” Poetics Today 11(1), 9–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Papers in Culture Research. Tel Aviv: Unit of Culture Research, Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fazlıoğlu, İhsan. 2003. “Osmanlı Döneminde ‘Bilim’ Alanındaki Türkçe Telif ve Tercüme Eserlerin Türkçe Oluş Nedenleri ve Bu Eserlerin Dil Bilincinin Oluşmasındaki Yeri ve Önemi.” Kutadgubilig Felsefe-Bilim Araştırmaları 3, 151–184.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fawzī, Fārūq ʿUmar. 2009. Tārīkh al-Nuẓum al-Islāmiyya: Dirāsa li Ṭaṭawwur al-Muʾ assasāt al-Markaziyya fī al-Dawla fī al-Qurūn al-Islamiyya al-ʾŪlā. Amman: Dār al-Shurūq.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fisher, Greg and Philip Wood. 2016. “Writing the History of the ‘Persian Arabs’: The Pre-Islamic Perspective on the ‘Nasrṣids’ of al-Hīrah.” Iranian Studies 49(2), 247–290. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fisher, Greg. 2011. Between Empires: Arabs, Romans, and Sasanians in Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hemmings, Jay. 2019. “The sack of Baghdad in 1258 – one of the bloodiest days in human history.” War History Online, 15 February, 2019. [URL].
İnalcık, Halil. 2006. “Klasik Edebiyat Menşei: İranî Gelenek, Saray İşret Meclisleri ve Musâhib Şairler”. Türk edebiyatı Tarihi, vol. 1, edited by Talât Sait Halman et al., 221–282. Istanbul: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Karadeniz, Yılmaz. 2019. “Siyasi Güç ve Dini Meşruiyet Açısından Büyük Selçuklu-Abbasi Halifeliği İlişkileri.” Manas Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi 8(2), 2060–2081. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kartal, Ahmet. 2008. “Anadolu Selçuklu Devleti Döneminde Dil ve Edebiyat.” Divan Edebiyatı Araştırmaları Dergisi 1, 95–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kızıltoprak, Süleyman. 2004. “Memlük.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2004. [URL].
Lunde, Paul. 2011. “Kalila wa-Dimna.” Muslim Heritage, 30 January 2011. [URL].
Luttikhuizen, Frances. 2005. “The Nestorians: A Forgotten Link in the Transfer of Greek Science to the West.” Paper presented at the Mediterranean Studies Conference, Messina, 25–28 May, 2005.
Martinez, Gabriel. 2008. “The Fall of the Umayyads of Cordova: The End of the Arab Caliphate.” Mediterranean Historical Review 5(2), 117–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merçil, Erdoğan. 1996. “Gazneliler.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 1996. [URL].
Miller, Andrew C. 2006. “Jundi-Shapur, Bimaristans, and the Rise of Academic Medical Centres.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 99, 615–617. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Modanlou, H. D. 2011. “Historical Evidence for the Origin of Teaching Hospital, Medical School and The Rise of Academic Medicine.” Journal of Perinatology 31(4), 236–239. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Montgomery, Scott L. 2000. Science in Translation: Movements of Knowledge Through Culture and Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nacmâbâdî, Mahmood. 2017. “Sasaniler dönemi tıbbı,” translated by Ahmet Altıngök and Cemal Bilici. Oğuz-Türkmen Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1(1), 190–266.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Özaydın, Abdülkerim. 2001. “Karahanlılar.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2001. [URL].
. 1993. “Cend.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 1993. [URL].
Özkan, Mustafa. 2002. “Selçuklular ve Beylikler Devrinde Türk Dili.” Genel Türk Tarihi, vol. 4, Orta Çağ, edited by Hasan Celâl Güzel and Ali Birinci, 486–510. Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paker, Saliha. 1998. “Turkish Tradition.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker, 571–582. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. “Translation as Terceme and Nazire: Culture-Bound Concepts and Their Implications for a Conceptual Framework for Research on Ottoman Translation History.” In Crosscultural Transgressions: Research Models in Translation II – Historical and Ideological Issues, edited by Theo Hermans, 120–143. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 1993. “Why Translation Conventions Should be Intercultural Rather than Culture-Specific: An Alternative Link Model.” Parallèles 15, 60–68.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014 [1998]. Method in Translation History. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Negotiating the Frontier: Translators and Intercultures in Hispanic History. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qazānjī, Fuʾād Yūsuf. 2010. Uṣūl al-Thaqāfa al-Siryāniyya fī Bilād mā Bayn al-Nahrayn. Amman and Baghdad: Dār Dijla.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sadeghi, Sajjad, Farzaneh Ghaffari, and Mehdi Alizadeh. 2018. “Al-Masā‘il fī al-Ṭibb: Ḥunain ibn Isḥāq’s Historic Medical Text with a Distinctive Style of Islamic Medical Education.” Journal of Medical Biography 29(1), 1–5.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Söylemez, Mehmet Mahfuz. 2005. “The Jundishapur School: Its History, Structure, and Functions.” The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 22(2), 1–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sümer, Faruk. “Selçuklular.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2009. [URL].
Ṭāhā, Salīm. 1976. “Al-Taʿrīb wa Kibār al-Muʿarribīn fī al-Islām”. Sūmar 32(1–2), 339–389.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taneri, Aydın. Hârizmşahlar. Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 1997. [URL].
Tanrıverdi, Eyyüp. 2007. “Arap Kültüründe Çeviri Çalışmaları ve Huneyn bin İshak Ekolü.” Dîvân Disiplinlerarası Çalışmalar Dergisi 12(23), 93–150.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Terzioğlu, Arslan. 2005. “Yerli Ve Yabancı Kaynaklar Işığında Selçuklu Hastaneleri ve Tabebetin Avrupa’ya Tesirleri”. In Türkler, vol. 5, Orta Çağ, edited by Hasan Celal Güzel, Kemal Çiçek, and Salim Koca, 1386–1411. Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tokaç, Mahmut. 2006. “Osmanlı Dönemi Türkçe Tıp Yazmaları.” In Osmanlılarda Sağlık, edited by Coşkun Yılmaz and Necdet Yılmaz, 165–186. İstanbul: Biofarma.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toury, G. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tschanz, David W. 2003. “Hunayn bin Ishaq: The Great Translator.” JISHIM 1, 39–40.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria. 2014. “Reconceptualizing Translation Theory: Integrating Non-Western Thought About Translation”. In Translating Others, vol. 1, edited by Theo Harmans, 13–32. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yarshater, Ehsan. 1998. “The Persian presence in the Islamic World.” In The Persian Presence in the Islamic World, edited by Richard G. Hovannisian and Geroges Sabagh, 4–125. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yıldız, Hakkı Dursun. 1998. “Abbâsîler.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 1988. [URL].
Yiğit, İsmail. 2004. “Memlükler.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, 2004. [URL].
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Maguvhe, Mbulaheni Obert
2025. The Role of Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Dialogue in Inclusive Education and Societal Integration. In Fostering Global Citizenship, ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue