Religious, Ethnic and Cultural Ambiguities in the Late Ottoman Empire and Turkey

A theoretically and empirically cutting-edge volume on the rich diversity of late Ottoman and modern Turkey’s minoritised populations as they intersect, interact and negotiate with the hegemonic national, ethnic and Islamic majority. The contributors masterfully capture the cultural aesthetics of these minoritised populations with the innovative use of the concept of ambiguity as identities form and transform through the three social movements of conversion, Islamization and assimilation. A must-read for those interested not only in the Ottoman Empire, Turkey and the Middle East, but also in identity formation and negotiation among all minoritised populations across time and space. * Fatma Müge Göçek, Professor, University of Michigan, USA *
This volume offers an original interdisciplinary contribution to the study of the notion of ambiguity as a relational and historically situated phenomenon, tracing its broader implications rather than treating it as a fixed concept or a synonym for uncertainty. In a world context where the “indexing and sorting” of peoples are increasingly engaged in simplistic, rigid, reductive and “unambiguous” terms to determine who belongs where, this volume provides a much-needed intervention not only within Modern Ottoman and Turkish Studies, but beyond. * Asli Igsiz, Department Chair and Professor, New York University, USA *