15 yüzyıldan 18 yüzyıla kasidelerde ideal hükümdar portresi ve hükümdarın metaforik sunumu
Author
Onay, Ebru
Advisor
Tezcan, Nuran
Date
2013Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Originated from the question how the sovereignty of sultan affected and
shaped the mind of “Homo-Ottomanicus”, this project focuses on the portrayal of the
Ottoman sultans in qasidas in general and the metaphorical presentation of them in
particular. With a specific emphasis on the importance of the perspectives qasidas
can provide for the research, a number of qasidas written for the reigning sultan by
Ahmad Pasha, Bâkî, Nef’î, and Nedîm in their Turkish divans have been examined in
the thesis.
It is observed that in qasidas the sultan is generally depicted as fair, generous,
benign, and good warrior and this feature was a result of the circle of equity inherited
from Persian- Arabic- Indian ruling tradition -or rather an idiosyncratic
amalgamation of them. With a specific eye to the functions of the comparisons and
analogies between the Ottoman sultans and heroes from Persian and Islamic
mythologies, the importance of comparisons and analogies in strengthen of the
power of the sultans is discussed. This being done, I attempt to examine the
metaphorical presentation and representation of the Ottoman sultans in selected
qasida examples from aforementioned poets. In this main part, George Lakoff and
Mark Johnson’s influential work on metaphor, Metaphors We Live By, is applied as
theoretical frame. Lakoff and Johnson assert that metaphors are not merely simple
linguistic devices to add some aesthetic value to our statements and literary
expressions but rather an intrinsic component of our cognitive process, hereby, could
provide us an elusive resource to get a better understanding of mind, and the ways it functions. On the bases of this argument, the metaphorical employment of the
language in selected qasidas are examined to get the climate of mind in terms of the
relationship between sultans and their subjects in the Ottoman Empire. It has been
observed that in concerning qasidas from four divans, the sultan is generally
portrayed as “aloft” and “ahead” while the subject is portrayed as “beneath” and
“behind”. Furthermore, the sultan is depicted in these poems as a “shadow” offers
protecting, “a sanctuary” to take refuge in, and an “aesthetic creature” or an
“ornament” with the power to embellish its surroundings. The frequency of using
these metaphors is changing over the concerning periods whereas in Nedîm’s Divân
the number of the “ornament metaphors” for the sultan increases significantly
compared to the other three divans. After discussing the possible reasons and
meaning of this turn in metaphorical employment, the project compares its findings
with the conventional arguments regarding the Ottoman sultans in European centred
readings. It is claimed that as the representative of authority and power, the Ottoman
sultan is depicted contradistinctively as “protector-shelter” in qasidas rather than as
“the despotic father” that the European centred readings have claimed him to be so
far.