Meşrutiyet Sonrasında Müslüman Osmanlı Feministlerinin Gayrimüslim Kadınlarla Etkileşimi

Abstract

Meşrutiyet Sonrasında Müslüman Osmanlı Feministlerinin Gayrimüslim Kadınlarla Etkileşimi Bu makale Müslüman ve Müslüman-Türk Osmanlı feministlerinin farklı etnik ve dini kimlikten kadınlarla nasıl bir etkileşim yaşadıklarını, kendilerini ve Müslüman olmayan ama kendileri gibi - yeni platformlarda seslerini duyurmak için inisiyatif alan - kadınları nasıl algıladıklarını betimliyor. Çalışmada temel kaynak olarak Meşrutiyet sonrasında yayımlanmış Osmanlı Türkçesi kadın dergileri taranmıştır. Her ne kadar Osmanlı modernleşme sürecinde feministler mücadelelerini kendi etnik ve dini cemaatleri içinde sürdürmüşlerse de birbirlerinin varlığından haberdardılar ve birbirlerini etkilemişlerdir. Kadınların kurtuluşuna dair heyecanlarını ve o dönemdeki iletişimlerini etkileyen karmaşık etkenleri yansıtan bu kadın sesleri, büyük ölçüde kadın hareketinin milliyetçileşmesinden önceki döneme aittir

Keywords

• Osmanlı kadın dergileri
• Osmanlı feministleri
• Osmanlı modernleşmesi
• Müslüman Osmanlı kadınları
• Meşrutiyet

Muslim Ottoman feminists' perceptions of their non-Muslim counterparts after Meşrutiyet

Abstract

This article shows how Muslim and Muslim-Turkish Ottoman feminists interacted with women from other backgrounds and how they perceived both themselves and their non-Muslim counterparts who had similarly taken the initiative of using new platforms to make their voices heard. Several Ottoman Turkish periodicals for women published after Meşrutiyet were reviewed as primary sources for this work. Although feminists conducted their struggles within their own ethnic and religious communities during the Ottoman modernization period, they were nevertheless aware of and influenced by one another. Reflecting an enthusiasm for women’s liberation and the complex forces at work in their interactions, the voices that are conveyed here are mainly those of Ottoman Muslim feminists in their writings before the nationalization of the women’s movement

Keywords

• Ottoman women's magazines
• Ottoman feminists
• Ottoman modernization
• MuslimOttoman women
• Meşrutiyet

References

1. 1 This article is a product of my involvement with the project “Gender and Inter-religious Relations in South Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean (19th – 21st centuries)”. I would like to thank Efi Kanner (the editor of the volume based on that project) for her helpful comments and criticisms. I am also grateful to Vincent Nunney and Hülya Demirdirek for their contribution to the English language version of the article.
2. 2 Suraiya Faroqhi, Men of Modest Substance: House Owners and House Property in Seventeenth-Century Ankara and Kayseri (Cambridge: 1987); Haim Gerber, “Social and Economic Position of Women in an Ottoman City, Bursa, 1600-1700,” IJMES 12 (1980): 231-44; Fatma Müge Göçek and Marc David Baer, “18. Yüzyıl Galata Sicillerinde Osmanlı Kadınlarının Toplumsal Sınırları [Social Boundaries of Ottoman Women’s Experience in 18th Century Galata Court Records],” in Modernleşmenin Eşiğinde Osmanlı Kadınları [Women in the Ottoman Empire: Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Middle East], ed. Madeline C. Zilfi, trans. Necmiye Alpay (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2000), 47-62.
3. 3 Yahya Araz, “Klasik Dönem Osmanlı Toplumunda Müslim-Gayrimüslim İlişkileri Bağlamında Lise Ders Kitaplarında ‘Öteki’ Sorunu [Problem of “the Other” in High School History Textbooks in the Context of Muslim non-Muslim Relationships in Classical Age Ottoman Society]” (PhD diss, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, 2008), 122-128. http://www.belgeler.com/blg/1byl/klasikdonem-osmanli-toplumunda-muslim-gayrimuslim-iliskileri Accessed 20.12. 2011.
4. 4 Elif Ekin Akşit, Kızların Sessizliği Kız Enstitülerinin Uzun Tarihi [The Silence of Girls - The Girls’ Institutes in the Early Period of the Turkish Republic] (İstanbul: İletişim Yayıncılık, 2005), 42-32; Serpil Çakır, “Osmanlı’da Kadınların Mekânı, Sınırlar ve İhlaller [Women’s Space in Ottoman Society: Limitations and Contraventions],” in Cins Cins Mekân [The Very Kinds of Space], ed. Ayten Alkan (İstanbul: Varlık Yayınları, 2009), 77-101.
5. 5 Athanasia Anagnostopulu, “Tanzimat ve Rum Milletinin Kurumsal Çerçevesi [Tanzimat and the Institutional Frame of Ottoman Greeks],” in 19. Yüzyıl İstanbul’unda Gayrimüslimler [Non-Muslims in Istanbul of the 19th Century], ed. Pinelopi Stathis, trans. Foti and Stefo Benlisoy (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 1997), 1-35.
6. 6 Deniz Kandiyoti, “İslam ve Ataerkillik: Karşılaştırmalı Bir Perspektif [Islam and Patriarchy: A Comparative Perspective]” in Cariyeler, Bacılar, Yurttaşlar - Kimlikler ve Toplumsal Dönüşüm [Mistresses in the Ottoman Harem, Sisters, Citizens – Identities and Social Transformation], eds. Beril Eyüboğlu, Müge Gürsoy Sökmen, trans. Aksu Bora et al. (İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 1997), 108-132.
7. 7 Unless otherwise indicated all translations of citations and titles of written materials as well as the titles of references in Ottoman Turkish/Turkish are mine.
8. 8 It is not clear who wrote the news in Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete. However, the style of writing makes me think that the items were written by women. Yet, even if they were not written by women they still offer rich content about the lives of women.

9. 9 She is from Thessaloniki and should not be confused with Nakiye Hanım who wrote for Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete under the alias Zekiye.
10. 10 Johann Strauss, “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries)?,” Arabic Middle Eastern Literatures, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2003): 40.
11. 11 Yaprak Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, (İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 2003), 50.
12. 12 Firdevs Cambaz, “Fatma Aliye Hanım’ın Romanlarında Kadın Sorunu [The Question of Women in the Novels of Fatma Aliye Hanım]” (Master’s thesis, Bilkent University, 2005), 50.
13. 13 Şefika Kurnaz, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketinde Bir Öncü Emine Semiye [Emine Semiye: A Pioneer in the Ottoman Women’s Movement] (İstanbul: Timaş, 2008), 125.
14. 14 Emine Semiye, “Anadolulu Kız Kardeşlerime [To My Anatolian Sisters],” İnkılap 14, October 23, 1909, 212-213, quoted in Kurnaz, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketinde Bir Öncü Emine Semiye, 143.
15. 15 Emine Semiye, “Dostluk [Friendship],” İnkılap 13, October 16, 1909, 195-196, quoted in Kurnaz, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketinde Bir Öncü Emine Semiye, 142.
16. 16 Emine Semiye, “Anadolulu Kız Kardeşlerime,” İnkılap 14, October 23, 1909, 212-213, quoted in Kurnaz, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketinde Bir Öncü Emine Semiye, 142.
17. 17 Emine Semiye, “Osmanlılık, [To be Ottoman],” İnkılap 8, September 11, 1909, 115-116, quoted in Kurnaz, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketinde Bir Öncü Emine Semiye, 143.
18. 18 For example, “Women in Ancient Rome”, “Women in Ancient Greece”, “Women in Ancient Persia” (ed. Fatma Aliye Hanım, in Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete); “Women under Bani Isra’il”, “Indian Women in History”, “Chinese Women”, “Life among Arabs and Women’s Rights” (in Kadınlar Dünyası).
19. 19 Logofet Fuat, “Osmanlı Meşâhir-i Nisvânı [Famous Ottoman Women]: Madam Zabel Asadur,” Demet 1 (1908): 7-8.
20. 20 Halil Hamit, “Âlem-i Nisvan: Kürt Kadınları [World of Women: Kurdish Women],” Siyanet 15 (1914): 12-13.
21. 21 Meropi Anastassiadou, Tanzimat Çağında Bir Osmanlı Şehri (1830-1912) [Thessaloniki: An Ottoman City in the Era of Tanzimat (1830-19129)], trans. Işık Ergüden (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 1998), 70.
22. 22 İlber Ortaylı, “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Millet [Millet in Ottoman Empire],” Tanzimat’tan Cumhuriyet’e Türkiye Ansiklopedisi Vol. 2, 996-1001.
23. 23 Zekiye, “Şayan-ı Takdir Bir Gayret-i Milliye [A National Effort to Appreciate],” Kadın 25 (1909): 5-6.
24. 24 Zekiye Hanım also mentions other details about the school: “It has an attendance of one hundred and ten and a fabric-cutting workshop for twenty girls. The school supplies the meals and the clothing for these mostly poor children. Underprivileged girls who work there are given a small amount of daily salary. Although the school works under the authority of a competent director it is inspected by a supervisory committee of Jewish ladies:” 25 An important centre in the Balkans in Macedonia on the road between Thessaloniki and Bitola (Monastir).
25. 26 Aziz Haydar, “Hatıra-i Sabavet [Childhood Memories],” Kadınlar Dünyası 40 (1913): 2.
26. 27 Sıdıka Ali Rıza, “Mekteplerimiz [Our Schools],” Kadınlar Dünyası 17 (1913): 4.
27. 28 Naciye Tahsin, “Çalışalım, Yapalım [Let us Work and Achieve],” Kadınlar Dünyası 17 (1913): 3.
28. 29 It is documented that schools of Alliance Israelite Universelle had a thirty-year existence: “From 1860 onwards, the Alliance Israelite Universelle took on the task “regenerating” Eastern Jewish communities.” Rena Molho, “Female Jewish Education in Salonica at the end of the 19th century” in Salonica and İstanbul, 139.
29. 30 The reformation of girls’ schools were actually initiated before the Meşrutiyet but the improvements and their recognition first became more noticeable after the liberation in the constitutional period.
30. 31 Atiye Şükran, “Ticaret Ayıp Değildir [Trade is not Shameful],” Kadınlar Dünyası 68 (1913): 1-2
31. 32 Another article by Atiye Şükran made reference to the fact that Kadınlar Dünyası was sold in the new public spheres open to women such as points of public transport. “At the train station there was a seller calling Kadınlar Dünyası” Atiye Şükran, “Ne Güzel! [Oh Joy],” Kadınlar Dünyası 13 (1913): 2.
32. 33 İlber Ortaylı, “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Millet,” Tanzimat’tan Cumhuriyet’e Türkiye Ansiklopedisi, 997.
33. 34 Zabel Yesayan, Silahtarın Bahçeleri [Gardens of Silahtar], trans. Jülide Değirmenciler (İstanbul: Belge Yayınları, 2006) 101-102.
34. 35 Zekiye, “Şüun-ı Nisvan: Tramvay Meşhudatı [Women’s News: Tram Scenes],” Kadın 9 (1908): 15.
35. 36 Kadınlar Dünyası interrupted its publication three times. Publication periods: April 1913-February 1915 (Number: 1-162), March 1918- October 1918 (163-194); January 1921-May 1921 (194/1-194/15).
36. 37 “Illustrated newspaper defending the rights and privileges of women. Our pages are open to pieces from Ottoman women irrespective of religion and ethnicity”. This formulation was changed in 1914 into “Illustrated newspaper defending women’s rights and privileges, published on Saturdays”.
37. 38 Serpil Çakır and Mithat Kutlar both assume that the pieces signed as Kadınlar Dünyası were written by Ulviye Mevlan on the basis of the style of writing. Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi, 83; Mithat Kutlar, Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan ve ‘Kadınlar Dünyası’nda Kürtler’ [Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan and the Kurds in‘Kadınlar Dünyası’] (İstanbul: Aveste, 2010), 43.
38. 39 Kutlar, Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan ve ‘Kadınlar Dünyası’nda Kürtler; Mevlânzade Rıfat, Sürgün Hatıralarım [My Memories of Exile], ed. Mithat Kutlar (İstanbul: Avesta, 2009).
39. 40 Kadınlar Dünyası also includes pieces by foreign female writers who were not Ottoman citizens. It is important to approach them separately
40. 41 Nadya Kantarcıyan, “Hakiki İnkılaba Doğru [On the Way to the Real Revolution],” Kadınlar Dünyası 114 (1913). In the magazine the name of Kantarcıyan is written probably by mistake as “Nayda”.
41. 42 Mademoiselle Elise, “Kadınlık Âleminde İhtiyac-ı İnkılap [Necessity of Revolution in the World of Womanhood],” Kadınlar Dünyası 13 (1913): 1-2.
42. 43 Loksandra Aslanidi, “Kadınlar Dünyası Muharrirelerine [To the Writers of Kadınlar Dünyası],” Kadınlar Dünyası 62 (1913): 4.
43. 44 Bintülbetül, “Sahnelerimizde Çalışanlardan: Agavni Necip Hanım [One of Those Who Work on Our Stages: Agavni Necip Hanım],” Kadınlar Dünyası 194-10 (6 Mart 1921): 13-14. ; Bintülbeltül, “Temaşa Hayatı: Aznif Manakyan Hanım [Life of Entertainment: Aznif Manakyan Hanım],” Kadınlar Dünyası 194-12 (26 Mart 1921): 12.
44. 45 Kınar, “İtiraza İtiraz! [Objection to the Objection],” Kadınlar Dünyası 33 (1913): 4.
45. 46 Yavuz Selim Karakışlalı, “Osmanlı Hanımları ve Kadın Terziler-1,” Tarih ve Toplum 232 (Nisan 2003):11-20; “Osmanlı Hanımları ve Kadın Terziler-2,” Tarih ve Toplum 233 (Mayıs 2003):52-60; “Osmanlı Hanımları ve Kadın Terziler-3,” Tarih ve Toplum 234 (Haziran 2003):39-46.
46. 47 Besim Ömer, Hanımefendilere Hilal-i Ahmer’e Dair Konferans [Conference to Ladies Concerning Hilal-i Ahmer], ed. Turan Hacıfettahoğlu (Ankara: Kızılay Derneği, 2007)
47. 48 Founded after the Balkan War to support and provide job opportunities for the orphaned daughters of soldiers and Balkan refugees.
48. 49 “Konferans [Conference],” Kadınlar Dünyası 3 (1913): 3-4.
49. 50 Emine Seher, “İktisat [Economics],” Kadınlar Dünyası 4 (1913): 1-2.
50. 51 For Nezihe Muhittin’s opinion about non-Muslims see, Kadınsız İnkılap [Revolution without Women], 69-76.
51. 52 Aziz Haydar, “Yerli Malları [Domestic Goods],” Kadınlar Dünyası 53 (1913): 1-2.
52. 53 Vera Starkoff, “Harbe Karşı [Against the War],” Kadınlar Dünyası 121(1913): 2-3.
53. 54 Karakışla’s work provides extensive details of the Ottoman Turkish newspaper Tanin’s reporting on orphans in the years 1915- 1916: the number of orphaned children had exceeded 16,000 in İstanbul. This, he explains, prompted the Ottoman government to cooperate with women working in the Islamic Society for the Employment of Women (Kadınları Çalıştırma Cemiyet-i İslamiyesi) and the Society for the Protection of Children (Himaye-i Etfal Cemiyeti). A commission consisting of one American, one Armenian and one Muslim woman was set up by the Directorate of Orphanages (Darü’l-eytam Müdüriyeti) to “determine” the ethnic roots of these orphaned children. Karakışla quotes reports that tensions arose in the work of the commission. Yavuz Selim Karakışla, “Savaş Yetimleri ve Kimsesiz Çocuklar: ‘Ermeni’ mi Türk mü? [War Orphans and Children without Identities: ‘Armenian’ or Turkish?],” Toplumsal Tarih 69 (1999): 46-55.
54. 55 Tehcir, the literal meaning of which is “forced immigration”, is the term used very commonly during the Ottoman period and especially in the Turkish Republic both to refer to or rather not refer to the Armenian Genocide.
55. 56 Nezihe Muhittin, “İzzetinefsimize Hürmet Bekleriz [We Expect Our Honour to be Respected ],” Âti, 24 November 1918, 3; Bengi Kümbül, “Tercüman-ı Hakikat Gazetesine Göre Osmanlı Ermenileri 1914-1918 [Ottoman Armeinans According to Tercüman-ı Hakikat Newspaper 1914-1918]” (me. Theses, Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi, 2005), 81-83, 90-93.
56. 57 Yaprak Zihnioğlu (ed.), Nezihe Muhittin Bütün Eserleri 4. Cilt [ Nezihe Muhittin Collected Works vol.4], (İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi, 2008),193; Çalışlar, Halide Edib Biyografisine Sığmayan Kadın,15, 29.
57. 58 Ulviye Mevlan, “Düşünüyorum [I am Thinking],” Kadınlar Dünyası 163 (1918): 2-3.
58. 59 Hayganuş Mark, “Mer Campan [Our Way],” (Hay Gin, 1st November 1919, Number 1, trans. Sırpuhi Bilal, in Bir Adalet Feryadı, 317-318.