The Image of the Other: the Ottoman Empire Seen from Western
Europe, 16th-18th Centuries
(2 credits)
Prof. Dr. Andrei Pippidi
Course description
South-east European history from the battle of Mohacs (1526) to the
reforms of Selim III (1789-1807) and the variations of the image of the
Ottoman Empire in Western diplomacy, scholarship and literature.The study
of political events in the region will be balanced with the history of
ideas in Western Europe. Students will read several primary texts, including
the accounts of travelers to the Balkans.
Course objectives: Students will learn to use the documents (archives,
works of art) as well as the historiography on this subject. They will
understand better how European prejudice has often distorted the reality.
This analytical exercise will sharpen their personal judgement of some
contemporary issues in the Balkans.
Course requirements
Assessment will be on the basis of class participation (20 %),a midterm
paper (20 %),a theoretical examination (30 %) and a final paper which will
estimate the practical skills of the students in the investigation of archives
(30 %). Participation includes theoretical reports ,discussions on such
reports or on the readings.
Readings
1 Peter F.Sugar,Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule,1354-18o4,University
of Washington P)ress,1977.x
2 Stanford J.Shaw,History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey,vol.I,Empire
of the Gazis,Cambridge University Press,l976.x
3 Bernard Lewis,The Muslim Discovery of Europe, W.W.Norton & Co..1982.x
4 Steven Runciman,The Great Church in Captivity, Cambridge,1968x
5 N.Iorga,Histoire des Etats balcaniques,Paris,1925x
6 N.Iorga,Byzance apres Byzance,Bucharest l971x (or reprint Paris,1992)x
7 Georges Castellan,Histoire des Balkans,Paris,1991x
8 Larry Wolff, Inventing Eastern Europe, Stanford University Press,1994
9 Maria Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, New York- Oxford, 1997.
(x) means a book on the list of available works.
