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Son yıllarda, yiyecek ve içeceklerin siyasetle olan yakın ilişkisini ortaya koyan ilginç çalışmalar yürütülmektedir. Öncelikle, birçok yiyecek ve içecek kendi tarihlerine sahip olup, bunlardan bazıları farklı coğrafyalarda yayılırken oralarda kültür, ekonomi, dînî hayat ve siyaseti etkileyip kendileri de bunlardan etkilenmektedirler. Türk kahvesi, kıtanın güneydoğu ucundaki İstanbul’a ulaşmasından bu yana, Avrupa’da bir içecek ile siyaset ve dînî kültür arasındaki ilişkiye çok çarpıcı ve renkli bir örnek teşkil etmektedir. Kanaatimce, Türk kahvesi daha en başta (16. yüzyıl ortalarında) İstanbul’da “siyasî” bir içecekti veya bir başka deyişle siyasîleştirildi, çünkü bu içeceğe ve tüketildiği mekanlara çoğu zaman siyasî anlamlar yüklendi. Makalenin ilk kısmı kıtaya yeni gelen bir içeceğin (Türk kahvesinin) hem Osmanlı başkentinde hem de Hristiyan Avrupa’da nasıl devleti, siyaseti ve dini ilgilendirdiğini gösteriyor. Böylece bu kısım daha çok, bir içeceğin girdiği ülkelerde siyaset ve kültürü etkilemesi hakkındadır. Buna karşılık, makalenin ikinci kısmı ise tam tersini yansıtıyor: Yunanistan ve Bosna örneklerinde ise siyasetin kendi davası için gastronomi dahil, gündelik hayatı nasıl biçimlendirdiğine şahit oluyoruz. Bu kısım, 20. yüzyıl sonlarında siyaset ve milliyetçilik dolayısıyla, Türk kahvesinin isim olarak Yunan ve Boşnak kahvesine dönüştüğü iki örnek üzerinde durmaktadır. Burada basit bir içeceğin sadece millî bir ad alarak bir millî kimlik ve gurur nesnesi ve aracı olduğunu görüyoruz. Kısacası kahve, 20. yüzyılda bir defa daha, sıradan bir içecek olmaktan çıkarak siyasî bir içecek olmuş ve birçok insanın kimliğinin bir parçası haline gelmiştir. Kahve ve kahvehanenin toplum ve siyasetle ilişkisini de içeren tarihi son yıllarda önem kazanan maddî tarih alanına ilginç ve önemli bir örnek teşkil etmektedir.
Recently, one comes across interesting publications on the close relationship between some foodstuff and politics. While some foodstuff and drinks have their own stories, some of them, as they spread in different geographies, have influenced culture, economy, religious life and politics and also have been influenced by them. Turkish coffee provides a striking and colorful example for the relationship between a drink and politics as well as religious culture in Europe since its arrival at the southeastern-most part of the continent, namely Istanbul. I suggest that Turkish coffee was a "political drink" or was politicized in its earliest time (mid-sixteenth century) in Istanbul, because political meanings were often attached to the drink and the places where it was consumed. The first part of the present work shows how a newly introduced drink (Turkish coffee) involved the state (and politics) as well as religion both in the Ottoman capital and several parts of Christian Europe. Thus, this part is more about a drink influencing the politics and culture in the countries where it spread. Yet, the second part of the work reflects just the reverse, that is, how politics shapes to its purposes the everyday language, including gastronomy, as it dwells on two late twentieth-century cases in which Turkish coffee became Greek and Bosnian coffee respectively due to politics and nationalism. In the Greek and Bosnian cases, one witnesses how a simple drink, namely Turkish coffee, becomes an object of national identity and national pride by merely assuming a national name. Therefore, once again coffee became a political drink and part of the identity of many people in the 20th century. History of coffee and coffeehouses which includes their relationship with society and politics provides an interesting and important example for the rising field of material history.
Recently, one comes across interesting publications on the close relationship between some foodstuff and politics. While some foodstuff and drinks have their own histories, some of them, as they spread in different geographies, have influenced culture, economy, religious life and politics and also have been influenced by them. Turkish coffee provides a striking and colorful example for the relationship between a drink and politics as well as religious culture in Europe since its arrival at the southeastern-most part of the continent, namely Istanbul. I suggest that Turkish coffee was a “political drink” or was politicized in its earliest time (mid-sixteenth century) in Istanbul, because political meanings were often attached to the drink and the places where it was consumed. The first part of the present work shows how a newly introduced drink (Turkish coffee) involved the state (and politics) as well as religion both in the Ottoman capital and several parts of Christian Europe. Thus, this part is more about a drink influencing the politics and culture in the lands where it spread. Yet, the second part of the work reflects just the reverse, that is, how politics shapes to its purposes the everyday language, including gastronomy, as it dwells on two late twentieth-century cases in which Turkish coffee became Greek and Bosnian coffees respectively due to politics and nationalism. In the Greek and Bosnian cases, one witnesses how a simple drink, namely Turkish coffee, becomes an object of national identity and national pride by merely assuming a national name. Therefore, once again coffee became a political drink and part of the identity of many people in the 20th century. History of coffee and coffeehouses which includes their relationship with society and politics provides an interesting and important example for the rising field of material history.
Field : Sosyal, Beşeri ve İdari Bilimler
Journal Type : Uluslararası
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