II Selim dönemi sonuna kadar Osmanlı Edebî hâmîlik geleneği

Abstract

This study explores the Ottoman tradition of patronage of the literary arts up to the era of Selim II. It analyzes the definition of patronage, as well as its emergence and development, which coincided with the development of the empire, and compares disparate and similar views of patronage as it existed before and after the establishment of the Ottoman State. The main sources drawn upon in the chapters, “An Overview of the Founding of the Ottoman Tradition of Patronage of the Literary Arts,” “Patrons and Critics: The Presentation and Evaluation of Poetry during the Ottoman Empire’s Foundation,” “The Benefits of the Patronage System as Enjoyed by the Artist, the Patron and Society in General,” and “An Evaluation of Criticism of the Patronage System,” are poets’ biographies (tezkire) and original documents acquired from Topkapı Palace’s Treasury Archive. This study illustrates the crucial role that the Ottoman system of patronage played in the development of Ottoman poetry, and argues that the richness of the Ottoman poetic repertoire is due, in part, to its patrons’ double role as patrons and critics. At first glance, this system’s first benefit for the artist appears to be the câize, or reward given to the poet for a laudatory poem. However, when one considers the polemics surrounding this reward system, which point to its ceremonial nature, it becomes obvious that such material benefits were of lesser importance than the values of “protection and authority” which the patronage system ensured both patrons and artists.