Reconsidering the Role of Ulema and Scribal Actors in the Ottoman Transition from Manuscript to the Printed Medium

Abstract

The traditional literature on the Ottoman printing enterprise has for long placed the traditional actors of the written word including the ulema and the calligraphers at a counter position to new technology and its connotations. The printed medium, however, has incorporated many of these actors, who continued to fulfill some of the most important tasks. From editorial work to the techno-material aspects of printing, these actors did not remain isolated, but garnered new opportunities for themselves in a rapidly changing cultural environment. By focusing exclusively on the Imperial Press to reveal the editorial workload largely owned up by the ulema, this paper reveals how the know-how of these scholars was critical for the transition to a new cultural medium. It also illuminates the central role played by the scribes and the calligraphers, who had allegedly ‘revolted’ against İbrahim Müteferrika in the eighteenth century, in providing the aesthetic continuity from the manuscript to the printed book in the Ottoman Empire. Overall, this paper argues that the new technology did not necessarily eliminate old professions, but allowed professionals to adapt and carry their skills to the new environment.