A transcription and textual analysis of Medhiye-i Ali Paşa ve Gencîne-i Pür-Temâşâ

Abstract

The subject of this thesis is Medhiye-i Ali Paşa ve Gencîne-i Pür-Temâşâ, written by Şâzî in 1619 to praise Sultan Osman’s grand vizier Ali Pasha, who is known as İstanköylü, Çelebi and Güzelce. Şâzî’s work contains literary prose style (inşâ) and poems in praise of Ali Pasha and his valor and a story about a sultan and his grand vizier. This work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, which contains the remarks of contemporary researchers about the seventeenth century and its changing power centres, examines Şâzî and Ali Pasha’s life. The second chapter, which focuses on Şâzî’s text, examines his prose style and aims to show that Şâzî wanted to make a difference in literature and thus hoped to find a patron, Ali Pasha, to support him. Quotations from Hüsn ü Dil written by Âhî ve Lâmi‘î are also examined in this chapter. Describing the method of textual analysis and transcription system as well as giving information about manuscript, the third and final chapter concludes with a transcription of the text.