26 January 2023

We are deeply honoured to welcome Professor Laurent Mignon, Professor of Turkish Literature at the University of Oxford, UK, to lead a session of the Sacred Literature in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group.

Here are the details of this fascinating session.

Topic: From the People of the Book to the Books of the People: Christian Literature and the 19th Century Ottoman Turkish Literary World

Abstract: Studies of late Ottoman Turkish literature and intellectual history have tended to focus on the impact of positivism and progressive ideologies in the literary cafés of Istanbul. Yet from Chateaubriand’s Atala to Silvio Pellico’s Le mie prigioni, essential works of any 19th century Christian literary canon, were also translated into Ottoman Turkish and were read and discussed by Ottoman literati. Protestant translations into Armeno-Turkish and Greco-Turkish of works such as John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Hesba Stretton’s Jessica’s First Prayer, and, of course, books of the Bible too had an impact on the literary field. This talk will reflect on the impact of Christian literature on the 19th century Ottoman Turkish literary world.

Speaker: Professor Laurent Mignon, Professor of Turkish Literature at the University of Oxford, UK.

Speaker’s Biography: Professor Laurent Mignon is Professor of Turkish Literature at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of St Antony’s College and Affiliate Professor at the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society. His research focuses on the minor literatures of Ottoman and Republican Turkey, in particular Jewish literatures, as well as the literary engagement with non-Abrahamic religions during the era straddling the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic. From 2002 to 2011 he taught at the Department of Turkish Literature at Bilkent University in Ankara. He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Lichtenberg Kolleg, University of Göttingen from January to July 2016. In March and April 2019, he was invited as Visiting Professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. He is an Associate Member of the Centre de Recherche Europes-Eurasie at INALCO, Paris.

Chair: Professor Hugh Goddard, Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, The University of Edinburgh, UK.

Time: 18:00-19:00 GMT| 19:00-20:00 CEST | 10:00-11:00 PST | 13:00-14:00 EST

Venue: Online

After registering, you will receive the Zoom email containing information about joining the meeting. If you do not see the zoom email in your inbox, please, check your spam folder.

If you would like to join the Sacred Literature in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group, please sign up here.

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