Ottoman literature as Mediterranean literature: travel, imperialism, and comparison in Hac Yolunda by Cenab Şahabeddin

Abstract

The Mediterranean did not receive enough attention in research and scholarship on Ottoman literature, which has often been studied either as the precursor of modern Turkish literature or as a part of Islamic Middle Eastern literatures. Likewise, Ottoman literature did not receive significant attention in those branches of Mediterranean studies that have foregrounded interactions between Europe and the Maghreb. This article calls for an examination of representations of the Mediterranean in Ottoman texts, as well as the envisioning of Ottoman literature as Mediterranean literature. As a case study, I will be analysing a late Ottoman travelogue, the Hac Yolunda (On the Hajj Route; 1909) by Cenab Şahabeddin (1870-1934), a pioneering figure in Ottoman literature. I argue that the Mediterranean as a heuristic device can orient critics of Ottoman literature toward comparative and theoretical approaches that engage with fundamental debates in postcolonial studies and world literature.