Abstract
NARRATING THE OTTOMAN WITH IBN KHALDUN: A STUDY ON THE BAHTİYARLIK NOVEL
Ahmet Mithat Efendi's novel Bahtiyarlık has been examined both in various researches about its author and in specific articles about the novel. In these studies, there has been some evaluations about the novel’s literary genre and the themes it contains. In this research, the formal features of the novel are not mentioned. A review has been made only in terms of content. In the study, it is claimed that Ahmet Mithat Efendi has discussed as a whole the problems and solution proposals of the nineteenth century Ottoman society in his novel. It is also suggested that Ahmet Mithat Efendi has used Ibn Khaldun's concepts and methods described in his book Muqaddimah. Ahmet Mithat Efendi has used Ibn Khaldun's concepts and methodology in a literary language to explain the state of Ottoman society in the nineteenth century. In the novel, Ahmet Mithat Efendi has used Ibn Khaldun's civilized and nomadic conceps and methodology to explain individual relations, social institutions such as family, economy, bureaucracy, politics, education and also spatatial imaginations of the period.
Keywords
Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Bahtiyarlık, Ibn Khaldun, The Ottoman Empire.