The intersections of illness and literature in the Ottoman Empire: Figuring Émile Zola and syphilis in Halide Edib’s Mev’ut Hüküm

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire began to use positivism and materialism to socially regulate and reform the empire, and Charles Darwin, Ludwig Büchner and Claude Bernard were among the names often cited and translated to engineer a new Ottoman society. Émile Zola became a hotly debated figure both for his choice of subjects, and for his view of society as a patient in need of healing. Dedicated to the “soul” of Zola, Halide Edib’s novel Mev’ut Hüküm (The promised verdict; 1917–18) narrates the ill-fated romance between Sara, suffering from syphilis, and her doctor, Kasım Şinasi. This article looks at how European notions of determinism and social Darwinism shaped late Ottoman literature and its role in social engineering. Edib’s combination of naturalism and tragedy reflects the tension between materialism and spiritualism in contemporary debates; she uses both trends of thought to criticize patriarchal logic that vilifies and victimizes women.