İstanbul Haneleri: Evlilik, Aile ve Doğurganlık 1880-1940

by Alan Duben, Cem Behar

Istanbul Households is a social history of marriage, the family and population in Istanbul during the turbulent period of transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Istanbul was the first Muslim city to experience a systematic decline in fertility and major changes in family life, and, as such, set the tone for many social and cultural changes in Turkey and the Muslim world. Istanbul was the major focal point for the forces of westernization of Turkish society, processes which not only transformed political and economic institutions in that country, but also had a profound and lasting impact on domestic life. This is the first systematic historical study of the family and population in Turkey or the Middle East, combining the methods and approaches of social anthropology, historical demography and social history.

Genres: Middle East, History

281 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Duben and Cem Behar’s Istanbul Households is an attempt to create a social history of Istanbul’s population during the period that transformed the Ottoman Empire into the Republic of Turkey by combining demographics and anthropology. The departure point of their study is the observation that Istanbul, unlike its surrounding rural communities (and Muslim cultures as a whole during this era), was characterized by low fertility rates and a late age of marriage. While rural Anatolia fit the trend of “non-European” household patterns, Istanbul was unique, and fit neither the “European” nor “non-European” models. Their overarching argument is that social forces between 1880 and 1940 transformed family life; economic exigencies meant a desire for fewer children, while the improved status of women, due in part to the role they played in replacing the men during World War I, contributed to later ages of marriage.

After two introductory chapters that lay the contextual and methodological framework for the remainder of the book, Duben and Behar begin their analysis by examining the structure of Istanbul households during this period. The authors note that conditions facilitated strong intergenerational solidarity based on an uxorilocal system, but the later marriage age, the early deaths of fathers, and migration patterns that worked against older family members meant that most married couples were independent upon their union. Next, Duben and Behar argue that while the concept of “love marriage” was a popular cultural fantasy during the sixty years of their study, it did not become a dominant force in Istanbul relationships. Instead, “love marriage” blended with the traditional variety and the system was forced to negotiate both viewpoints. Arranged marriages continued, but the feelings of the children began to be taken into account. The authors also discuss how marriage was negotiated between Islam and local custom, with the final source of its validation being the society, rather than religion. Occasionally the “special conditions” in a marriage contact even included clauses that deviated from Islam.

Duben and Behar then discuss how, despite evidence to the contrary, there was a widespread belief that individuals were getting married at younger ages than ever before, and that this was the reason for the perceived (although not real) decline in the Ottoman Empire’s Muslim population. The ideal age for a female to get married was when they could bear and raise children, while men were expected not to get married until they could provide for a household. Due to the latter need, however, marriages were actually occurring at older ages, since weddings were expensive ventures in a climate of economic crisis, particularly due to the cost of setting up a new household unit. The authors end this chapter by disproving the myth of widespread polygyny, demonstrating that it was practiced by only about 2% of Istanbul males, most of whom had two, rather than the maximum possible four, wives. This was due to restrictions placed by Westernizing reforms, public pressure, and the expense involved in holding multiple weddings. The sixth chapter investigates the decline in fertility, which Duben and Behar attribute to changes in nuptuality and lowered marital fertility. The former is accounted for by increasing opportunities for women outside of the family, while the latter is attributable to women having their last child at younger ages. This indicates the use of fertility controls, which the authors argue was present across all social strata in Istanbul. Islam neither encouraged nor prohibited the various practices (except for abortion after 120 days), and thus economic realities were the major impetus behind birth control decisions.

The study concludes with an examination of the cultural perceptions of the family during this period. Both Ottoman and Turkish literature perceived a crisis in the family, surrounding women’s freedom and the potential disintegration of gender roles, that paralleled that of the empire/nation. Europeanization began in the palace and filtered down, taking over the city despite resistance; its most significant impact was a changing desire for a smaller nuclear family. Rights for women progressed faster in Istanbul than anywhere else in the region, and some measure of equality in the family sphere was achieved by the Republican era. The lowered fertility rates meant that society began to place more emphasis on children, focusing on their intellectual and physical health, but also emphasizing the role that the father (like the nation) was to play in raising his children.

Methodologically sound and intricately detailed, Duben and Behar’s collaboration stands out as a rare attempt to chronicle the impact that the changes of this era were having on ordinary citizens. While the authors warn that most of the available data relates to the upper-class, if not elite, echelons of society, this study is valuable nonetheless as a quantitative attempt to move beyond theories that focus on ideologies and high politics. While Istanbul Households is able to touch upon only a few of the issues and questions raised by its analysis, there is no doubt that it provides both a unique perspective and a springboard for discussion on an important topic about which we know so little. Although it may not fit will within a canon of “traditional” histories, it is essential reading for anyone seeking insight about how the transformation between the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic was negotiated by those who actually experienced it on the ground level.

[T. the Iras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunum için okuduğum İstanbul Haneleri, daha önce yine bir ödev için okuduğum Cahit Uçuk’un Bir İmparatorluk Çökerken metninden sonda, geçiş dönemi Osmanlı ve aile hayatına ilişkin çok güzel bir metin oldu. Demografik de bir çalışma olan kitap, aile hayatı, kültürel doku, doğurganlık, kadın erkek ilişkisi ve daha bir çöl konuya değiniyor. Tanıklıklarla da desteklendiği için okuması keyifli ve bir o kadar da dönem şartlarını değerlendirebileceğiniz bir kitap haline gelmiş. İlginiz varsa en azından sonuç bölümüne göz atabilir, ona göre diğer bölümlere bakabilirsiniz.