The impact of Levantine community on the westernization process of Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The aim of this research is to understand the role of Levantines in the westernization process of Ottoman Empire. The scope of the study covers the second half of 19th and the first quarter of 20th century of İstanbul, specifically Galata and Pera regions which took on the appearance of a European city. The method is Center – Periphery Theory. According to the Modern World-System approach, the world is divided into two, center and periphery, and the center means both; the center in geographical sense, and also the center of the cultural values, symbols, beliefs, and behavioural patterns. In this system, above mentioned are demanded and imported by the periphery. The importation process is performed primarily by the privileged actors such as, elite class, tradesman and bureaucrats in the periphery. Within the case of Ottoman Empire and Istanbul at the time, the center was west, particularly France and the way of life was associated to the Belle Époque period. Ottoman elite living in the capital, desired a western lifestyle while the west was taken as a role model of progress during the 19th century and even later. In that period, the Ottoman elite was in a challenging attempt to westernize the Empire in every aspect of life, in collaboration with Levantines who were the European tradesman in İstanbul. Just as the West was recognized as the center of progressing and the Levantine community was the representation of west in the Ottoman capital, in other words, the West in the Orient, so Istanbul was the West in Anatolia as the center of progressing.