An Ottoman Tragedy

“What truly makes An Ottoman Tragedy extraordinary, in addition to its approach being both new and interesting, is that the author does not simply present his approach as his own preference, but rather records it by establishing critical connections with literary theories and, while using these theories, develops refined methods adapted to his own needs.”

Cemal Kafadar

In An Ottoman Tragedy, Gabriel Piterberg meticulously examines the dethronement and murder of young Sultan Osman II in 1622, making historiography itself the subject of his inquiry and offering a multilayered perspective on the concept of the state through diverse and competing representations of the event. In his work, which skillfully utilizes postmodernist narrative theories, Piterberg emphasizes that the contradictory and political historiography of the period is an undeniable part of Ottoman history, and he also traces the methods and agendas behind linguistic differences in archives where "lived history" and "written history" intertwine.

An Ottoman Tragedy offers an experimental framework to better understand one of the most complex and turbulent periods of Ottoman history; by placing the actors, witnesses, and narrators of a "tragic" event within this framework, it raises new and intriguing questions about the understanding of language, history, and state in the Ottoman Empire.

Gabriel Piterberg is a professor in the History Department at UCLA.