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SUMMARY:Anglo-Ottoman encounter in the Age of the Beloveds - Nailya Shamgu
 nova\, Faculty of History
DTSTART:20180206T131000Z
DTEND:20180206T140000Z
UID:TALK97756@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Arthur Dudney
DESCRIPTION:This paper explores the relationship between the emotional eco
 logies of early modern England and the Ottoman Empire. It focuses on estab
 lishing two distinct ways of conceptualising male to male affection and lo
 ve in these societies and explores parallels and direct connections betwee
 n them. The emotional ecology of early modern male English friendship is a
 n under-explored topic. Focusing on friendship manuals published in Englan
 d between the 1580s and the 1670s\, I argue that early modern friendship\,
  far from merely giving a language of expression for hidden male to male l
 ove\, was the very centre and focus for that love. Extensive debates about
  the possibility of male to female friendship\, the importance of friendsh
 ip in marriage and the competition between conjugal marriage and male to m
 ale friendship\, ‘the marriage of souls’\, all point to the central em
 otional importance of friendship between men\, a category which encompasse
 d far more than ‘being just friends’ does nowadays. Equally\, the cult
 ure of the beloveds in early modern Ottoman Empire\, explored by Walter An
 drews and Mehmed Kalpaklı\, was a distinct emotional ecology of male to m
 ale relationships. Andrews and Kalpaklı drew parallels between early mode
 rn Ottoman Empire and Renaissance England\, showing that both cultures inc
 luded a relationship between an older and a younger male. I want to take t
 hat a step further and draw connections rather than parallels\, and to try
  to answer the question of why early modern English observers of the Ottom
 an Empire seemed incapable to capturing the relationship between Ottoman m
 en despite the complete acceptability of close male to male bonds in Engli
 sh culture at the time. Using the example of Sir John Finch and Sir Thomas
  Baines\, lifelong companions bonded in ‘holy matrimony’ (according to
  their Cambridge mentor) who lived in the Ottoman Empire for more than ten
  years\, I will explore the role of religion and cultural prejudice in con
 structing early modern Anglo-Ottoman encounters in relation to emotions an
 d sexuality.
LOCATION:The Richard King Room\, Darwin College
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