Ottoman Coffeehouses and 'The Early Modern'

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of a new type of emerging sociability in the Early Modern Ottoman coffeehouse and through this provide both a theoretical critique of extant notions of public and private sphere dichotomies, while at the same time highlighting elements of both change and continuity with regards to the conceptualization and use of public spaces like streets, neighborhoods, and sites of public socialization. Through a combination of the written accounts of sixteenth century intellectuals and later artistic representations of coffeehouse spaces by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European resident artists, this project will seek to understand the relationship between the interiority and exteriority of urban sites like coffeehouses and how this relates to elements of the visuality of the coffeehouse and its clientele. Further, this study will seek to place these developments within the context of a broader socio-cultural and political shift throughout Eurasia defined by a sense of interconnected social, cultural, and economic processes.