Hazine

By Michael Erdman

Throughout the 19th century, the periodical grew in importance as a means of mass communication in the Ottoman Empire. Some of the earliest examples of this form of publication were in allographic traditions such as Armeno-Turkish and Karamanlitic. As the Tanzimat reforms progressed, however, and European forms of text dissemination became more commonplace, the balance changed in favour of the dominant Arabic script. Periodicals addressed a wide variety of topics, but literature, especially original poetry, short stories, and translations, were especially popular. The imposition of strict censorship during the period 1878-1908 made discussions of literature and language a convenient means for addressing social and political concerns without angering the censors. Literary periodicals are of great importance in understanding social change and political concerns during the Empire’s final century.

This list focuses on literary periodicals in Ottoman Turkish. In the interest of providing as comprehensive a listing as possible, the criteria for inclusion is relatively simple. I have opted to list any periodical publication (defined below) produced in the Ottoman Turkish language, or in a multilingual format that includes Ottoman Turkish, that expressly describes itself as a “literary” (“edebi”). Distinction will not be made between those works published inside the Ottoman Empire or outside of it. On occasion, works that do not include an explicit statement about their content will be included in the list if they exhibit many of the characteristics of a literary journal, i.e. literary criticism; publication of original poetry or prose works of fiction; translations of foreign literary works. 

Continue reading “Pre-1928 Ottoman Turkish Literary Periodicals”