Alfred Jeoffrey Naddaff: Ottoman Modernity

My research centers around the ongoing re-assessments of the founding assumptions of Turkish and Arab modernity. Central to both these modernities is European modernity and especially French intellectual production, as France was a major colonizing and imperial power that indigenous thinkers from the Ottoman Empire turned to—borrowing, criticizing, but always in discourse with during the 19th century “Age of Revolutions”. I used the funds to help cover the costs of Intensive Ottoman and Turkish Summer School in Cunda, the largest of the Ayvalık Islands archipelago. There, I spent six weeks learning Ottoman Turkish, reading documents often infused with and influenced by French intellectuals, to help me with my eventual dissertation project which will span many literary genres and several countries including France, Italy, Turkey and Lebanon.

This summer I partook in the renowned Cunda Ottoman Summer School, located off the Aegean coast of Turkey, arriving in early July and staying six weeks until August 16.  The program is structured into two sessions: modern (19th century) mainly print focus and early modern (15th/16th century paleography). I enrolled in the former, taking Ottoman classes with Professor Yorgos Dedes. Professor Dedes is a masterful professor, and I benefited immensely from his meticulous and dynamic hands-on approach; he calls on students at random to read the text, moving quickly from student to student. The fact that the classroom was small, with no more than 10 students at a time, facilitated a close level of individual attention and allowed me to make great strides in my Ottoman, which was the goal. The class was philologically structured, and we spent considerable time breaking down the grammatical logic of long sentences (contrary to common belief, 19th century Ottoman doesn't get easier, but the syntax can be more complicated than earlier texts). Professor Dedes also assigned individual homework for me that I would send him before class so that he could correct my transliteration errors and understanding of the texts via translation; this level of individual attention was unprecedented for a summer program, and I am very grateful for his dedication and care. 

As for accommodation, I stayed in the more populous town of Ayvalik, which was a 25-minute bus commute from the summer school, alongside two classmates. Living with two friends who underwent the same experience created a sense of community and I was grateful to never have had a meal alone during six weeks and to be located somewhere that had a considerable amount of food choices. The program was intense academically and socially, then. I spent considerable time exploring restaurants and beaches with friends after class. One weekend, we even took a boat trip to the neighboring island Lesvos, crossing into Greece. There we swam in the crystalline water, savored delicious seafood such as sardeles (sardines) and octopus, and visited two museums: the Museum of Theophilos and The Teriade Museum, which boasted an astonishing collection of paintings by artists including Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Le Corbusier and Matisse. 

A group of us having kelle paca, dish of boiled cow or sheep parts, for breakfast with our instructor Yorgos Dedes.

Being on an island for a summer school has its advantages and disadvantages; one of the negative aspects was a lack of water during the first week, and the beaches proved further than imagined—we had to commute on small, crammed buses for at least half an hour to find swimmable waters. But my complaints are quite trivial since the pros far outweigh the cons: the sense of community forged by nature of this program, and, most importantly, the incredible improvement of my Ottoman compared to when I started.  There is a reason why this program has been running strong for three decades and has become a rite of passage for every serious scholar in Ottoman studies. The fact that I am an Arabist and a literary scholar, not an Ottoman historian, and was able to experience Cunda Summer School makes me feel like it was especially valuable for my professional formation. I am grateful for the Europe Center for supporting this essential part of my educational journey and intellectual formation which always connects the Ottoman World to Europe—the East with the West. 

Kleopatra Beach – Badavut, Türkiye