‘Sound-Writing’ Technologies and Early Field Recordings in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The history of early sound recording technologies in the Ottoman Empire has been studied mainly from the perspectives of music production, comparative musicology, and ethnomusicology. In fact, while hundreds of commercial and musical cylinders were being produced in Istanbul, Beirut, and elsewhere, European anthropologists, ethnologists, linguists, orientalists, etc. were traveling throughout the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Caucasus collecting audio data for scientific purposes. In order to contribute to the Ottoman history of science and technology from the perspectives of sound studies and auditory history, I focus on the first field recordings in the Ottoman Empire, namely during Paul Kretschmer's (1866-1956) study trip to Lesbos in 1901 and Felix von Luschan's (1854-1924) research in Zincirli (Sendschirli, Aintab) in 1902. Thus, this paper aims to fill a research gap within Ottoman Studies with regard to non-musical recordings and the impact of sound reproduction technologies on the history of the (colonial) sciences, especially anthropology, ethnology and linguistics.

Keywords

• phonograph
• sound recording technologies
• field research
• sound studies
• auditory history

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nda 'Ses-Yazma' Teknolojileri ve Erken Dönem Alan Kayıtları

Abstract

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'ndaki erken dönem ses kayıt teknolojilerinin tarihi, ağırlıklı olarak müzik üretimi, karşılaştırmalı müzikoloji ve etnomüzikoloji perspektiflerinden incelenmiştir. Aslında, İstanbul, Beyrut ve başka yerlerde yüzlerce ticari ve müzikal silindir üretilirken, Avrupalı antropologlar, etnologlar, dilbilimciler, oryantalistler vb. Balkanlar, Anadolu ve Kafkasya'da bilimsel amaçlarla ses verileri toplamak için seyahat ediyorlardı. Osmanlı bilim ve teknoloji tarihine ses çalışmaları ve işitsel tarih perspektiflerinden katkıda bulunmak amacıyla, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'ndaki ilk saha kayıtlarına, yani Paul Kretschmer'in (1866-1956) 1901'de Midilli'ye yaptığı çalışma gezisine ve Felix von Luschan'ın (1854-1924) 1902'de Zincirli'de (Sendschirli, Aintab) yaptığı araştırmaya odaklanıyorum. Dolayısıyla bu makale, müzik dışı kayıtlar ve ses çoğaltma teknolojilerinin (sömürgeci) bilimler tarihi, özellikle de antropoloji, etnoloji ve dilbilim üzerindeki etkisine ilişkin Osmanlı Çalışmaları içindeki bir araştırma boşluğunu doldurmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

• fonograf
• ses kayıt teknolojileri
• alan araştırması
• ses çalışmaları
• i̇şi̇tsel tari̇h

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