Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature: Cultural Translations (Francisci, Happel, Speer)
by Gerhild Scholz Williams
University of Michigan Press, 2021 eISBN: 978-0-472-12862-4 | Cloth: 978-0-472-13241-6 Library of Congress Classification PT149.T9 Dewey Decimal Classification 830.935856015
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Even a casual perusal of seventeenth-century European print production makes clear that the Turk was on everyone’s mind. Europe’s confrontation of and interaction with the Ottoman Empire in the face of what appeared to be a relentless Ottoman expansion spurred news delivery and literary production in multiple genres, from novels and sermons to calendars and artistic representations. The trans-European conversation stimulated by these media, most importantly the regularly delivered news reports, not only kept the public informed but provided the basis for literary conversations among many seventeenth-century writers, three of whom form the center of this inquiry: Daniel Speer (1636-1707), Eberhard Werner Happel (1647-1690), and Erasmus Francisci (1626-1694). The expansion of the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries offers the opportunity to view these writers' texts in the context of Europe and from a more narrowly defined Ottoman Eurasian perspective.
Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature: Cultural Translations (Francisci, Happel, Speer) explores the variety of cultural and commercial conversations between Europe and Ottoman Eurasia as they negotiated their competing economic and hegemonic interests. Brought about by travel, trade, diplomacy, and wars, these conversations were, by definition, “cross-cultural” and diverse. They eroded the antagonism of “us and them,” the notion of the European center and the Ottoman periphery that has historically shaped the view of European-Ottoman interactions.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Gerhild Scholz Williams is Barbara Thomas and David M. Thomas Professor in the Humanities, Vice Provost, Associate Vice Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis.
REVIEWS
“Williams is a proven expert on early modern German literary history, and comparative literature. She playfully overcomes established disciplinary boundaries by integrating approaches from literature, history, culture, and media studies to reflect the ever-changing early modern images of ‘Ottoman’ Eurasia in the contemporary German media perception. This multifaceted and versatile book will be read in undergraduate courses to get acquainted with the popular German literature of the 17th century, and in graduate courses as a guide to further explorations of the vast textual production, their context and references.”
—Flemming Schock, University of Würzburg
— Flemming Schock
“Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature not only expands research on the image of Turks in 17th-century literature but also makes literary texts fruitful for historical questions. In addition, it sheds new light on three authors who have so far been little noticed by literary scholars.”
—Victoria Gutsche, Friedrich-Alexander University
— Victoria Gutche
“Williams is a proven expert on early modern German literary history, and comparative literature. She playfully overcomes established disciplinary boundaries by integrating approaches from literature, history, culture, and media studies to reflect the ever-changing early modern images of ‘Ottoman’ Eurasia in the contemporary German media perception. This multifaceted and versatile book will be read in undergraduate courses to get acquainted with the popular German literature of the 17th century, and in graduate courses as a guide to further explorations of the vast textual production, their context and references.”
—Flemming Schock, University of Würzburg
— Flemming Schock
“Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature not only expands research on the image of Turks in 17th-century literature but also makes literary texts fruitful for historical questions. In addition, it sheds new light on three authors who have so far been little noticed by literary scholars.”
—Victoria Gutsche, Friedrich-Alexander University
— Victoria Gutche
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Talking about the Enemy: Erasmus Francisci’s (1627–1694) Writings about the Turk
2. The Turk in Fact and Fiction: Eberhard Werner Happel (1647–1690)
3. Crossing Borders: The Adventures of Speer’s Improbable Heroes, Simplicissimus and Eulenspiegel
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature: Cultural Translations (Francisci, Happel, Speer)
by Gerhild Scholz Williams
University of Michigan Press, 2021 eISBN: 978-0-472-12862-4 Cloth: 978-0-472-13241-6
Even a casual perusal of seventeenth-century European print production makes clear that the Turk was on everyone’s mind. Europe’s confrontation of and interaction with the Ottoman Empire in the face of what appeared to be a relentless Ottoman expansion spurred news delivery and literary production in multiple genres, from novels and sermons to calendars and artistic representations. The trans-European conversation stimulated by these media, most importantly the regularly delivered news reports, not only kept the public informed but provided the basis for literary conversations among many seventeenth-century writers, three of whom form the center of this inquiry: Daniel Speer (1636-1707), Eberhard Werner Happel (1647-1690), and Erasmus Francisci (1626-1694). The expansion of the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries offers the opportunity to view these writers' texts in the context of Europe and from a more narrowly defined Ottoman Eurasian perspective.
Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature: Cultural Translations (Francisci, Happel, Speer) explores the variety of cultural and commercial conversations between Europe and Ottoman Eurasia as they negotiated their competing economic and hegemonic interests. Brought about by travel, trade, diplomacy, and wars, these conversations were, by definition, “cross-cultural” and diverse. They eroded the antagonism of “us and them,” the notion of the European center and the Ottoman periphery that has historically shaped the view of European-Ottoman interactions.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Gerhild Scholz Williams is Barbara Thomas and David M. Thomas Professor in the Humanities, Vice Provost, Associate Vice Chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis.
REVIEWS
“Williams is a proven expert on early modern German literary history, and comparative literature. She playfully overcomes established disciplinary boundaries by integrating approaches from literature, history, culture, and media studies to reflect the ever-changing early modern images of ‘Ottoman’ Eurasia in the contemporary German media perception. This multifaceted and versatile book will be read in undergraduate courses to get acquainted with the popular German literature of the 17th century, and in graduate courses as a guide to further explorations of the vast textual production, their context and references.”
—Flemming Schock, University of Würzburg
— Flemming Schock
“Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature not only expands research on the image of Turks in 17th-century literature but also makes literary texts fruitful for historical questions. In addition, it sheds new light on three authors who have so far been little noticed by literary scholars.”
—Victoria Gutsche, Friedrich-Alexander University
— Victoria Gutche
“Williams is a proven expert on early modern German literary history, and comparative literature. She playfully overcomes established disciplinary boundaries by integrating approaches from literature, history, culture, and media studies to reflect the ever-changing early modern images of ‘Ottoman’ Eurasia in the contemporary German media perception. This multifaceted and versatile book will be read in undergraduate courses to get acquainted with the popular German literature of the 17th century, and in graduate courses as a guide to further explorations of the vast textual production, their context and references.”
—Flemming Schock, University of Würzburg
— Flemming Schock
“Ottoman Eurasia in Early Modern German Literature not only expands research on the image of Turks in 17th-century literature but also makes literary texts fruitful for historical questions. In addition, it sheds new light on three authors who have so far been little noticed by literary scholars.”
—Victoria Gutsche, Friedrich-Alexander University
— Victoria Gutche
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Talking about the Enemy: Erasmus Francisci’s (1627–1694) Writings about the Turk
2. The Turk in Fact and Fiction: Eberhard Werner Happel (1647–1690)
3. Crossing Borders: The Adventures of Speer’s Improbable Heroes, Simplicissimus and Eulenspiegel
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE