One of the oldest surviving pieces of Turkish literature, The Book of Dede Korkut can be traced to tenth-century origins. Now considered the national epic of Turkey, it is the heritage of the ancient Oghuz Turks and was composed as they migrated westward from their homeland in Central Asia to the Middle East, eventually to settle in Anatolia. Who its primary creator was no one knows, the titular bard, Dede Korkut, being more a symbol of Turkish minstrelsy than a verifiable author. The songs and tales of countless minstrels lay behind The Book of Dede Korkut, and in its oral form the epic was undoubtedly subject to frequent improvisation by individual performers. Partly in prose, partly in verse, these legends were sung or chanted in the courts and camps of political and military leaders. Even after they had been recorded in written form, they remained part of an oral tradition. The present edition is the first complete text in English. The translators provide an excellent introduction to the language and background of the legends as well as a history of Dede Korkut scholarship. These outstanding tales will be of interest to all students of world mythology and folklore.
The Book of Dede Korkut is a collection of twelve stories set in the heroic age of the Oghuz Turks, a nomadic tribe who had journeyed westwards through Central Asia from the ninth century onwards. The stories are peopled by characters as bizarre as they are unforgettable: Crazy Karchar, whose unpredictability requires an army of fleas to manage it; Kazan, who cheerfully pretends to necrophilia in order to escape from prison; the monster Goggle-eye; and the heroine Chichek, who shoots, races on horseback and wrestles her lover. Geoffrey Lewis's classic translation retains the odd and oddly appealing style of the stories, with their mixture of the colloquial, the poetic and the dignified, and magnificently conveys the way in which they bring to life a wild society and its inhabitants. This edition also includes an introduction, a map and explanatory notes.
Life Alert provides solid ammunition for Christians, missionaries, and converted Muslims with medical evidence proving that Muhammad s prophetic visions were really nothing more than epileptic seizures. This book provides examination of the following areas: Elementary neurology in layman s terminology Muhammad s medical history and its meaning Actual case studies of others with the same physical problems as Muhammad and their spiritual experiences How his visions came to be accepted as revelations from Allah The implications of these findings on the Islam religion Illustrated with brain charts, photographs, and diagrams, conclusive medical evidence shows the truth about the founder of the Muslim religion and allows followers to objectively study this prophet and draw their own conclusions.
Cemal Kafadar offers a much more subtle and complex interpretation of the early Ottoman period than that provided by other historians. His careful analysis of medieval as well as modern historiography from the perspective of a cultural historian demonstrates how ethnic, tribal, linguistic, religious, and political affiliations were all at play in the struggle for power in Anatolia and the Balkans during the late Middle Ages. This highly original look at the rise of the Ottoman empire—the longest-lived political entity in human history—shows the transformation of a tiny frontier enterprise into a centralized imperial state that saw itself as both leader of the world's Muslims and heir to the Eastern Roman Empire.
Medieval literature is to a large degree shaped by orality, not only with regard to performance, but also to transmission and composition. Although problems of orality have been much discussed by medievalists, there is to date no comprehensive handbook on this topic. ‘Medieval Oral Literature’, a volume in the ‘De Gruyter Lexikon’ series, was written by an international team of twenty-five scholars and offers a thorough discussion of theoretical approaches as well as detailed presentations of individual traditions and genres. In addition to chapters on the oral-formulaic theory, on the interplay of orality and writing in the Early Middle Ages, on performance and performers, on oral poetics and on ritual aspects of orality, there are chapters on the Older Germanic, Romance, Middle High German, Middle English, Celtic, Greek-Byzantine, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Turkish traditions of oral literature. There is a special focus on epic and lyric, genres that are also discussed in separate chapters, with additional chapters on the ballad and on drama.
Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808 is the first book of the two-volume History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. It describes how the Ottoman Turks, a small band of nomadic soldiers, managed to expand their dominions from a small principality in northwestern Anatolia on the borders of the Byzantine Empire into one of the great empires of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe and Asia, extending from northern Hungary to southern Arabia and from the Crimea across North Africa almost to the Atlantic Ocean. The volume sweeps away the accumulated prejudices of centuries and describes the empire of the sultans as a living, changing society, dominated by the small multinational Ottoman ruling class led by the sultan, but with a scope of government so narrow that the subjects, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, were left to carry on their own lives, religions, and traditions with little outside interference.
What constitutes a villain? How does villainy differ from evil? Is Captain Hook a villain - or is Peter Pan? Do portrayals of villainy from places as far apart as the Yemen, Italy and Ireland show common characteristics? Do villains created for children's fiction differ from those created for adults? This volume attempts to answer these questions.Rev. and enlarged papers from the second interdisciplinary conference on 'Villains and Villainy' held at Oriel College, Oxford, in September 2010.
A history of the political transformation of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century to the present by an anthropologist who has spent 30 years studying Turkish history and culture.
*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the 4th century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity's greatest empire. Constantinople would continue to serve as the capital of the Byzantine Empire even after the Western half of the Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century. Naturally, the Ottoman Empire would also use Constantinople as the capital of its empire after their conquest effectively ended the Byzantine Empire, and thanks to its strategic location, it has been a trading center for years and remains one today under the Turkish name of Istanbul. In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world's most important geopolitical players. It was a rise that would not truly start to wane until the 19th century, and the Ottomans would maintain their empire until the end of World War I. Osman I, who is now recognized as being the first leader of the Ottoman Empire before dying in 1323 or 1324, is one of history's most important leaders, so it is ironic that little is known about his life. Historians have searched in vain for a single historical record dating from his reign, despite the fact he was the founder of the Ottoman Empire, a state which conquered Asia Minor, most of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans before reaching the very walls of Vienna. In the struggle between Christian and Islamic powers, it was the first state to challenge hegemony over Europe since the Umayyad Caliphate was defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Tours in 732. Even after its demise, the politics of the Balkan states is very much influenced by the Ottoman past, and Muslim populations remain in the European lands once occupied by the Ottomans. The Middle East's politics and conflicts trace back to the dissolution of the empire, and in Turkey, the Ottoman legacy remains a topic of national debate. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared that modern Turkey is the "continuation" of the Ottoman Empire, arguing that Turkey needs to return to its Islamic roots. While there may be no contemporary records about Osman, plenty of evidence exists about his deeds, the times he lived in, and Ottoman society under his leadership. Accounts of his life wEre written more than 100 years after his death, and his birthdate is unknown, though he must have been born in the middle of the 13th century. Even his name is not entirely clear; "Osman" suggests an Arabic origin, but he was a Turk and his name was probably Atman or Ataman. This is certainly how the contemporary Greek historian Pachymeres (1242-c.1310) renders the name, and it is possible that Atman adopted the more prestigious name Osman later in life. Most importantly, according to tradition he was the son of Ertugrul, leader of the Kayi tribe of the Oghuz Turks. Osman I: The Life and Legacy of the Ottoman Empire's First Sultan chronicles his life and accomplishments, and the massive impact he had on the Ottomans and the world around him. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Osman I like never before.
The Gold Coast is a well-known and loved destination for local and international tourists, a city of surf and sun, pleasure and leisure. However, it is also one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, occupying the largest urban footprint outside the state capitals.
