Origins of a consumer culture in an early modern context : Ottoman Bursa

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Studies on the origins of the modern consumer culture generally focus on the early modern western context with the inherent assumption that today’s modern consumer culture had its origins in the early modern west. This study examines origins of an early modern consumer culture in a non-western context; Ottoman Empire between the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries and investigates how particularities of the context shaped a different consumer culture. Specifically the study focuses the town of Bursa. In the Ottoman context, social structure provided differences from the previously theorized western contexts concerning consumer culture phenomena. Ottoman context had a different dominant class and relatively high level of upward mobility among the ranks. Ottoman dominant class allowed the entry of lowest echelons and had intergenerational downward mobility. Multiple data sources including archival data were used to conduct this historical research. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were complemented. Findings show that indeed an early modern consumer culture in a non-western context existed. In addition, the characteristics of the Ottoman social structure shaped a different Ottoman consumer culture both in terms of appropriation of different categories of goods and the processes of fashion and diffusion of goods.Karababa, EminegülPh.D

A case study: measuring service quality of a hotel using SERVQUAL method

Ankara : The Graduate School of Business Administration of Bilkent Univ., 1996.Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1996.Includes bibliographical references leaves 49-50.In this study, service quality of Bilkent Hotel is measured. The study starts with the literature survey on the quality and the service quality. The different definitions of service quality is given and file most popular and appreciated one which is "satisfying the customer expectations" is chosen for the analysis. The differences between the service quality and manufacturing quahty is examined and the i difficulty in measuring service quality is mentioned in this thesis. Then the different models on measuring service quality was searched. The model used is named as SERVQUAL. It is a comprehensive model and it not only diagnosed the situation of the company but offers solutions to the problems. These problems identified by the mefiiod and obtained by the gap measurements. There are five gaps. These are measured by some questionnaires which are presented in the appendices.Karababa, EminegülM.S

Marketing and consuming flowers in the Ottoman Empire

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the marketing and consumption of flowers as a commodity from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century in the Ottoman context, a non-Western context, and to identify the specificities and similarities to the wider regional context with which it interacts

Investigating early modern Ottoman consumer culture in the light of Bursa probate inventories

This study investigates the development of early modern Ottoman consumer culture. In particular, the democratization of consumption, which is a significant indicator of the development of western consumer cultures, is examined in relation to Ottoman society. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century probate inventories of the town of Bursa combined with literary and official sources are used in order to identify democrati- zation of consumption and the macro conditions shaping this development. Findings demonstrate that commercialization, international trade, urbanization which created a fluid social structure, and the ability of the state to negotiate with guilds were possible contextual specificities which encouraged the democratization of consump- tion in the Bursa context. </p

Assembling the Ethnic Identity in the Early Modern Ottoman Society through Clothing Consumption

Assembling the Ethnic Identity in the Early Modern Ottoman Society through Clothing Consumption Eminegül Karababa Department of Business Administration, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey Assembling the Ethnic Identity in the Early Modern Ottoman Society through Clothing Consumption 274 Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand and conceptualize the ethno-religious identity construction process in an early modern society, sixteenth and seventeenth century Ottoman society. Design/methodology/approach Historical data sources such as visual records, travelers notes and governmental records are analyzed in this study to show the ethno-religious identity formation. Assemblage theory is utilized to conceptualize the identity construction process. Research limitation/implications This study mostly excludes male members of the society because of the uniforms that they wore for their occupations. Keywords identity, Ottoman society, early-modernity, clothing, assemblage Paper Type Research Ethnic identities are expressed, produced and reproduced through consumption. (Askegaard et al., 2005; Crockett and Wallendorf, 2004; Oswald, 1999; Peñaloza, 1994; Thompson and Tambyah, 1999). Ethnicity is a relatively new concept (Spencer, 2006), emerged after nation states became dominant form of system of government. In contemporary social theory, an ethnic group is understood as a subgroup within a broader society; its members see themselves as distinct, and they claim kinship and common history, and share symbols such as consumption objects representing the group identity (Cornell and Hartmann, 1998). However, when this concept is applied to the early modern context, religion is more significant than the claims of kinship, culture, or common history in defining ethnicity (Bartlett, 2001). The aim of the current study is to understand and conceptualize the ethno-religious identity construction process in an early modern society, sixteenth and seventeenth century Ottoman society. Ethnic identity is continuously constructed by group members and others whom they encounter. That is, internal and external definitions of ethnicity are continuously constructed (Spencer, 2006). Ethnic identities are assigned to a group and defined, accepted, resisted, redefined, rejected, or defended by the group members (Cornell and Hartmann, 1998). In other words, groups continuously make assumptions based on the categories of us and them (Spencer, 2006). Symbolism expressed through dress is a way of representing the categories of us and them and their characteristics. This chapter specifically looks at how ethnicities in early modern Ottoman society were continuously constructed through the symbolism of dress. Ottoman context is interesting in the sense that geographically it extended from Crimea to Sudan, from Bosnia to the Persian Gulf, from the Caucasus to Morocco. It was made up of many populations (Fisher, 1971) such as Hungarians, Serbians, Croatians, Bosnians, Albanians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Jews, Berbers, Kurds, Laz people, Armenians, and Georgians. Groups had their own shared histories, customs, belief systems, and everyday practices that differentiated them from the others and gave them an identity. Also, interactions between groups in the region resulted in similarities or hybrid formations between groups. The ways that people adorned their bodies, their dress, and their accessories were symbols representing group identities. This study utilizes European travellers notes and their drawings, costume albums, and Sultans decrees as data sources. Travellers described and interpreted and sometimes sketched clothing of different ethnicities that they have encountered. Costume albums depict the Ottoman people s clothing styles according to their social categories such as gender, age, profession, ethnicity. Travellers notes and visual data are useful for identifying the dress of different ethnic and religious groups, and how interactions with outsiders construct external definitions of an ethnicity. Sartorial codes show both the state s interpretation of original ethnic clothing and their role in shaping the ethnic identity. Also, ethnic group s practices are presented in the texts of these sartorial cod