HIS42980

How can we examine the transformation of state-society relations in the Modern Ottoman Middle East (the Balkans, Anatolia and the Arab World) with a broader global perspective? How did the Ottoman government and the Middle Eastern peoples respond to the increasing impact of the global Western forces? How do these histories differ or coalesce in time and space? In what ways can the state-society relations in the modern Middle East be approached with gendered perspectives? To what extent does today’s national and ethnic boundaries explain the realities of the nineteenth- century Middle East? In response to these kinds of questions, this course aims to serve as an in-dept introduction to major themes, problems, and interpretations of the state-society relations in the late Ottoman era. We will highlight and discuss critical concepts, methodologies, ideological biases, cultural undertones, schools of thought, and theoretical frameworks in contemporary historiography. Existing paradigms will be critiqued and new approaches (global, connected, trans-local and environmental) will be put to under scrutiny. The purpose of the course is to expose students to the subtle ties of historian’s craft, explore historical literature on the connectedness of the Middle East to the wider world in the 19th and early 20th century, indicate the gender dimension of the region’s modern history and endow them with skills to critically engage with scholarship in Ottoman history of the Modern Middle East. Students will read widely in the historical and social scientific literature, as well as examining an array of primary sources including consular and state documents, memoirs and diaries, and photography and film.