The geograpy of Ottoman poetry :|cities in ghazels

Abstract

In this dissertation, it is aimed to reveal how cities are used as poetic materials in classical Turkish literature. The study is based on the ghazels of almost three hundred and fifty divans, those were written between the 14th and 19th centuries. As it is a necessity to narrow the data into a classifiable amount, the review of the place names in kaside, kıta, terkibibent and similar verse forms are excluded from the scope of the study. The thesis aims to make a contribution to the determination of the geography of Ottoman poetry and the cultural aspect of Ottoman history. In the first chapter of the study; the discussions, descriptions and opinions on the city, the Islamic city and the Ottoman city are mentioned briefly. Furthermore the genres of the classical Turkish literature, in which the cities were mentioned, and the examples of these genres are studied. In the second chapter; information on the locations, social characteristics and historical backgrounds of major geographies, countries, regions and states are provided and the aspects in which these cities stand out in the ghazels are explained with examples. An assessment on how cities were handled in ghazels is also made. With information on the political and social backgrounds of the cities in the ghazels, the third chapter is composed of a detailed review of the usage of cities as poetic materials.