E474 | In part two of our interview with Cemal Kafadar, we discuss how history writing might play an emancipatory role in the present. Turkey as a whole and Istanbul in particular seen grand urban development projects in the past decade, and we discuss how they have become flashpoints of protest for a number of reasons, including historical preservation. Kafadar links this issue to the broader question of what the Ottoman past means and for whom. He moreover thinks through the Gezi Park protests of 2013 and how they might connect to longer historical trajectories. He also offers a sense of how histories of place on a quotidian level might offer important perspective on these questions. In closing, we discuss homesickness and displacement, both in his own relationship with Istanbul and in the life of someone we discussed in part one of our interview: Cem Sultan.
Cemal Kafadar is the Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies at Harvard University. A sampling of his published works includes Between Two Worlds, "How Dark is the History of the Night, How Black the Story of Coffee, How Bitter the Tale of Love: The Changing Measure of Leisure and Pleasure in Early Modern Istanbul," and Kendine Ait Bir Roma.
CREDITS
Episode No. 474
Release Date: 1 September 2020
Recording Location: Harvard University
Sound production by Maryam Patton, Chris Gratien, and Sam Dolbee
Music: "Pacing," Chad Crouch; "Petite Route," Zé Trigueiros
Bibliography compiled by Cemal Kafadar and Sam Dolbee available at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2020/08/kafadar-2.html
