Geç Osmanlı Kadıköy’ünde Kentsel Modernleşme ve Hovhannes Kalfa Stefanyan’ın Hatıratı

Year 2023, Volume: 5, 23 - 46, 31.12.2023

Sarine Agopıan

https://doi.org/10.53979/yillik.2023.3

Abstract

Bu makale, Hovhannes Kalfa Stefanyan’ın hatıratı ışığında Kadıköy’ün geç Osmanlı dönemi kentsel modernleşmesini inceliyor. Kadıköy’ün yerlisi, semtteki pek çok binayı inşa eden bir taş ustası olan Stefanyan, modern Kadıköy’ün oluşum sürecinin keskin bir gözlemcisi ve tutkulu bir arşivcisiydi. Stefanyan’ın anıları, bu sürece dair kendi çizimi olan haritalar ve mahalle planlarının yanında semtte mülkiyetin el değiştirmesi ve tarım arazilerinin birer emlak metasına dönüşme biçimleri üzerine çok sayıda yazılı ve görsel malzeme içeriyor. Bu makale, Stefanyan’ın şimdiye kadar akademik bir incelemeye konu olmayan hatıratını tarihsel bir perspektife oturtuyor; bu anılardan yola çıkarak geç Osmanlı dönemi kentsel modernleşmesine dair, devlet veya cemaatler yerine semtin sakinlerini ve emlak piyasasının dinamiklerini merkezine alan bir anlatı ortaya koyuyor.

Keywords

Kadıköy, Kentsel Modernleşme, Tanzimat, Emlak, osmanlı ermenileri

Urban Modernization of Late Ottoman Kadıköy and the Memoirs of Hovhannes Kalfa Stepanian

Abstract

This article explores the urban modernization of late Ottoman Kadıköy through the lens of Hovhannes Kalfa Stepanian’s memoirs. A local inhabitant of Kadıköy and an active stonemason that oversaw the construction of several buildings in his district, Stepanian was an avid observer and passionate archivist of the eventful decades that shaped the urban fabric of modern Kadıköy. His memoirs contain precious visual and textual material including hand-drawn maps and neighborhood plans, property transactions, and patterns of the transformation of agricultural fields into real estate commodities. This article puts Stepanian’s hitherto untapped memoirs into historical perspective and offers a narrative of late Ottoman urban modernization that centers on the inhabitants of a semt (quarter) and the dynamics of the real estate market rather than the imperial and communal perspectives and practices.

Keywords

Kadıköy, Urban Modernization, Tanzimat, Real Estate, Ottoman Armenians

Thanks

This article is the result of a collaborative work. I would like to thank all those who helped in brainstorming, writing, and publishing it. I particularly want to thank Ümit Fırat Açıkgöz from the American University of Beirut. I am deeply grateful to Açıkgöz for his unparalleled support and dedication throughout this project but mostly for his generous time and knowledge provided for the development of this article. I learned a lot working with him and am forever grateful for that. I also thank Yaşar Tolga Cora from Boğaziçi University for his commitment and dedication to this project. His comments have always been very insightful since day one. I thank them for all the publication efforts for this article. Finally, I am particularly grateful to Archpriest Dr. Krikor Damadyan, head of Surp Takavor Armenian Apostolic Church in Kadıköy, for all the resources and information he provided for this research project. But, above all, I thank him for providing me with the invaluable memoirs of Hovhannes Kalfa Stepanian, the core source of this article.

References

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• Damadyan, Krikor. Hushamadyan Kadikughi [Kadıköy commemorative book]. 5 vols. Istanbul: Surp Takavor Armenian Church Foundation, 2016.
• De Moncan, Patrice, and Claude Heurteux. Le Paris d’Haussmann. Paris: Les éditions du Mécène, 2002.