Osmanlı Devletinde Çocukluk: Kaynaklar, Metot, Tarihsel ve Disiplinlerarası Perspektifler

Year 2021, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 44 - 68, 25.06.2021

Ali Çapar

Abstract

Bu makale Osmanlı döneminde çocukluk algısının oluşması ve değişim süreci ile farklı sınıf, coğrafya, din ve ırka mensup toplumlarda çocukluk algısı üzerine bilgi sunacak kaynakların neler olduğu, kaynakların hangi yöntem ve metotlarla değerlendirilmesi gerektiği hususunda bilgi sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Geçmişte çocukluk konusu birçok farklı disiplinin araştırma konusu içerisindedir. Soyut ve yetişkinler tarafından inşa edilen sosyal bir kurgu olan çocukluk, farklı disiplinler tarafından farklı şekilde tanımlanmış ve buna göre yaklaşım metotları ortaya konulmuştur. Tarih alanında ise çocukluk, 1960’lı yıllardan itibaren popüler bir araştırma konusu haline gelmiş ve özellikle batıdaki tarih yazımında geçmişte çocukluğu analiz etmek, tanımlamak ve yeniden inşa etmek için birçok eser yayınlanmıştır. Batıdaki çocukluk çalışmalarına kıyasla Osmanlı Devletinde çocukluk konsepti üzerine yeterince çalışma yapılmamıştır. İşte bu noktada makalemiz geçmişte çocukluk konusunda araştırma yapmak isteyen tarihçilere rehberlik yapmak amacıyla hazırlanmıştır. Batıda çocukluk konseptinin ortaya çıkışı ve gelişim süreci bölgenin tarihi süreç içerisinde geçirdiği ekonomik ve kültürel dönüşüm içerisinde değerlendirilmesi gerektiğini öne süren makalemiz, Osmanlı Devletinde çocukluk konseptinin ortaya çıkışı ve gelişimi Batı’dan Osmanlı’ya geçtiği kabul edilerek, ancak Osmanlı’nın geçirdiği kültürel, politik ve ekonomik dönüşüm içerisinde değerlendirilmesini önermektedir. Makalenin son kısmında geçmişte çocukluk konusunda disiplinlerarası çalışmanın önemine değinilmiş ve bu tür çalışmanın geliştirilmesi hususunda önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

Keywords

Çocukluk, Çocukların tarihi, Osmanlı'da çocukluk algısı, Aries

Childhood in the Ottoman Empire: Sources, Method, Historical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Abstract

This article delves into the construction of the concept of childhood and its evolution in the Ottoman Empire, and a wide range of primary sources provide a glimpse on concept of childhood on different social classes and communities belonging to various geographies, ethnicities and religions. The article also suggests methods and approaches to examine these materials, contributing to the understanding of the concept of childhood in the Ottoman period. Many scholars from diverse disciplines engaged in the subject of childhood in the past. As being a social construction developed by adults, various disciplines defined childhood differently and applied particular methods to study it. Following the groundbreaking work of Aries in the 1960s, the concept of childhood in the past become a prevalent research theme among scholars, which led to publication of several scholarly works defining, analyzing and reconstructing childhood in the past. Compared to childhood studies in the West, the number of scholarly works on the concept of childhood in the Ottoman Empire was scarce. Herein, this article proposes to guide researchers intending to conduct research on that topic. Western influenced normative ideas or concept of childhood should be challenged as they were not applicable in non-Western societies. Thus, this paper proposes that researchers should localize and periodize their researches on exploring childhood in the Ottoman Empire because of the multiplicity of childhood within the empire. In addition, researchers should explore the emergence and development of the concept of childhood in the Ottoman Empire within its own cultural, economic and political transformation. In the last part, the article emphasizes the usefulness of interdisciplinary approach and offers proposals to promote interdisciplinary research on the topic.

Keywords

Childhood, History of children, childhood in the Ottoman Empire, Aries

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