Female Photographic Representations in the Post-Ottoman Landscape The Female Body as a Battleground of Imperialisms and Nationalisms

The paper explores how contemporary artistic practices employing archival methods can intervene in colonial, nationalist and gendered photographic representations. Taking as a starting point the photographic installation Self-Portrait as an Ottoman Woman (2012, on going) comprised of postcards featuring women in traditional dresses and national costumes of the post-Ottoman landscape, it examines the complex processes in the production and consumption of photography related to Orientalist practices, Ottoman Imperialism and various nation-building processes. Considering how the collection of postcards problematises the historical accuracy of the female representations, the paper argues that alluding to the idea of the “Ottoman woman” constructs a collective space of belonging for a series of conflicting and oppositional social, ethnic and religious positions. In emphasising the instability of gender representations, Self-Portrait as an Ottoman Woman treats images of the past not only as documentary evidence but also as unstable bodies layered with contradictory significations. Rejecting chronological and geographical taxonomies and organising the postcards based on the posture of the women, the work shapes a series of movements that disrupt specific ideologies and question the male gaze.Ce texte tente d’évaluer la manière dont des pratiques artistiques actuelles peuvent agir sur des représentations photographiques genrées ou empreintes de présupposés coloniaux ou nationalistes. Utilisant comme point de départ l’installation de photographies Self-Portrait as an Ottoman Woman (2012), composée de cartes postales où figurent des femmes en habits traditionnels et tenues nationales issues du contexte post-ottoman, l’auteure met en relation sa réflexion sur les processus de production et de réception des photographies et sa critique des discours de domination

Towards Inclusive Art Histories: Ottoman Armenian Voices Speak Back

Despite a focus on art history, the concerns raised in Issue 6 of Études arméniennes contemporaines transcend the merely art historical, critically reflecting upon the manner in which the turbulent and heavily politicized seas of the Ottoman historical past are navigated by historians of all stripes and shades. The essays presented in this volume advocate new types of revisionist, methodologically and empirically sound histories that challenge misconstrued and misrepresented historical pasts, and critique the problematic, inadequate approaches and reductive projections of dominant nationalist/nation-centric or Ottomanist historiographies. Furthermore, they introduce into the debate hitherto silenced voices that have thus far been deliberately excluded from history. In so doing, this volume aims to contribute to the discussion towards the rendering of inclusive, nuanced and just representations of complex pasts. Dans cette sixième livraison, Études arméniennes contemporaines a choisi de donner toute la place qu’elle méritait à l’histoire de l’art, et particulièrement celle des artistes arméniens, peintres, photographes, décorateurs, mécènes qui ont pris leur essor dans le contexte ottoman d’avant 1915. Un choix d’autant plus nécessaire à l’heure où les historiens tentent d’amener l’écriture du passé ottoman vers de nouveaux rivages, loin des écueils ordinaires d’une histoire politisée et stato-centrée. Les articles rassemblés dans ce volume plaident tous pour des approches méthodologiques et empiriques révisées de ce passé. Rompant avec une grille de lecture nationale ou nationaliste de l’histoire de l’art et des artistes ottomans, il s’agit d’en faire entendre toutes les voix dans leur diversité et de restituer les nuances d'un monde disparu