Publication "Ordinary Ottomans" par Aline Schlaepfer & Jordi Tejel
Le dossier thématique (special issue, dir. Aline Schlaepfer & Jordi Tejel) "Ordinary Ottomans: Post-World War I Settlements and Experiences of the End of Empire" vient de paraître dans la revue Contemporary Levant
In the introduction ("Ordinary Ottomans: Post-World War I Settlements and Experiences of the end of Empire"), Jordi Tejel and Aline Schlaepfer discuss how "ordinariness" intersects with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, from the perspective of the non-elite and of everyday practices that persist through crises. This approach rethinks the "continuities and ruptures" trope.
In "Navigating futures past: colonialism, nationalism, and the making of post-Ottoman order in Kilis, 1919–1926", Ramazan Öztan explores the socio-political shifts in Kilis, highlighting how local elites responded to territorial changes and colonialism. The study shows how uncertainty shaped their interactions and resistance, contributing to the broader post-Ottoman order.
Funda Soysal & Alp Yenen use family papers, revealing the intricate relationship between precarity and privilege in the city of Salonica. The article "Precarious privileges: glimpses into the post-Ottoman transition through the papers of a Salonican family" emphasizes women's roles and family memory amidst shifting frontiers, showing family history’s contribution to historical understanding.
In "Nobody is leaving! Ottoman officials, their families and the struggle over Ottoman imperial sovereignty in Yemen after the Mudros Armistice, 1918–1924", Thomas Kuehn analyzes Ottoman sovereignty in Yemen and efforts to maintain it against British challenges. The article highlights daily government routines and the ordinariness of Ottoman subjects amidst imperial decline, offering a nuanced post-Armistice narrative.
In "The genocidal disruption of Johannes Jacob Manissadjian’s (1862–1942) lifework: a biographical approach to mass violence and indigenous knowledge production", Nazan Maksudyan traces the life of Johannes Manissadjian, focusing on the disruption caused by the Armenian genocide. His archival work reflects indigenous knowledge preservation, providing insight into the intersection of biography, mass violence, and knowledge loss.
Joel Veldkamp examines how the transition from empire to nation-state destabilized Aleppo's Jewish community in his article "‘So that we can safeguard your lives’: the Jews of Aleppo between colonialism, nationalism, and Zionism, 1918–1946". Focusing on institutional dysfunction under the French Mandate, the article offers an alternative view of the destruction of Arab-Jewish communities.
Ellinor Morack studies the memories of Muslim men during Allied occupation in Turkey (1918–1922). In the article entitled "‘From hunter to hunted’: (temporary) marginalisation in Muslim men’s memories of the allied occupation period in Turkey (1918–1922)", Narratives of humiliation reflect the reversal of Muslim privilege, showing how memory, secularization, and allusions facilitated collective forgetting and reframed social roles.
César Jaquier explores how garages, hotels, and cafés along Syria-Iraq routes redefined post-Ottoman space. Focusing on ordinary actors' roles in reshaping space and the economy, "Rethinking post-Ottoman space through the ordinary: garages, hotels and cafés between Syria and Iraq, 1920s–1930s" contrasts their marginalization by imperial interests with their local influence.
Abrahamyan Victoria investigates the creation of Armenian refugee settlements in the Syrian Jazira. She argues that cooperation between refugees and a local Arab sheikhs, rather than colonial forces, facilitated successful settlement, offering a model for later schemes, in "Rubble and Ruin: the CMS Hospital of Gaza in World War I … and Today?".