Gülşen Yakar, M.A.

Forschungsschwerpunkte

• Das Osmanische Reich in der Frühen Neuzeit
• Ego-Dokumente
• Self-Narratives
• History of Emotions
• Ottoman Manuscripts
• Early Modern Ottoman History
  
  

Forschungsprojekt

“Ottoman Ego-Documents in Germany: Locating the Sources, Analyzing the Findings”

Förderinstitution: TÜBİTAK, 2214-A International Research Fellowship Programme for PhD Students

Zeitfrist: 08.2025-08.2026

The field of Ottoman ego-document studies has been prospering in the last five years. Although a significant progress has been achieved in terms of defining and introducing this category of sources to Ottoman historiography, there is yet much to be done to locate Early Modern Ottoman ego-documents pre-dating 19th century and to integrate the findings to the larger field of ego-document studies in the world. Neglected until quite recently in Ottoman studies, substantial research has been carried out on ego-documents in Europe, the German academic circles in particular were among the pioneers of the field.

This project aims to conduct a research on Ottoman manuscripts in German libraries to locate ego-documents. The findings of the project will be evaluated and integrated primarily into the newly emerging field of history of emotions in the Ottoman Empire.

By conducting a research into the most neglected and largely unexplored sources of Ottoman history prior to the Empire’s so-called Westernization, and by utilizing them as sources of the emerging field of history of emotions, this project will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on Ottoman social, cultural and intellectual history in general. In particular, it will challenge long-standing assumptions relying not so much on systematic treatment of Ottoman ego-documents, but on Orientalist misconceptions inherited in Ottoman historiography.

Curriculum Vitae

Work Experience

• 2022 - Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Letters, Department of History Research Assistant

Education

• 2023 - Istanbul Medeniyet University (IMU), Istanbul, HISTORY, PhD Candidate.

• 2016-2019 - Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, HISTORY, Master of Arts.

• 2014-2018 - Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, SOCIOLOGY, Bachelor of Science (Double Major). Honor Student.

• 2011-2016 - Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, HISTORY, Bachelor of Arts. High Honor Student.

Scholarships

• 08.2025-08.2026 TÜBİTAK, 2214/A International Research Fellowship Programme for Phd Students

• 2022 - Turkish Historical Society, PhD Scholarship in Early Modern History

• 2017-2019 - Turkish Historical Society, Graduate Scholarship in Early Modern History

Academic Project and Experiences

• 08.2025-08.2026 - TÜBİTAK, 2214/A International Research Fellowship Programme for Phd Students, “Ottoman Ego-Documents in Germany: Locating the Sources, Analyzing the Findings”

• 2024-2025 - Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, “Ottoman Ego-Documents: Benefiting from German Libraries and Archives”, Juniour Researcher

• 2023-2026 - TÜBİTAK 1001, “Ottoman Ego-Documents: Inventory, Analysis (1500-1800)”, Doctoral Researcher

• 2023- Ceride: Joıurnal of Ego-Document Studies, Assistant Editor

Academic Publications

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Report on the Third Meeting of “Ottoman Ego Documents”: OLBA 2024, Skopje” Ceride Ben-Anlatıları Araştırmaları Dergisi/Journal of Ego-Document Studies 2, no. 2 (2024): 159-173.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Osmanlı Literatüründe Ben-Anlatıları: Envanter-Analiz (1500-1800) Başlıklı TÜBİTAK Projesi ve İstanbul Grubunun Çalışmaları II.” Ceride: Ben-Anlatıları Araştırmaları Dergisi/Journal of Ego-Document Studies 1, no. 2 (2023):158-163.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Osmanlı Literatüründe Ben-Anlatıları: Envanter-Analiz (1500-1800) Başlıklı TÜBİTAK Projesi ve İstanbul Grubunun Çalışmaları I.” Ceride: Ben-Anlatıları Araştırmaları Dergisi/Journal of Ego-Document Studies 1, no. 1 (2023): 156-161.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Consuming The Days in Tears and in Pleasure: Daily Life of an Istanbulite Dervish in 17th Century.” New Perspectives on Ottoman Consumption History, Yavuz Köse, Sümeyye Hoşgör Büke, Oya Gözel Dumraz (eds.) I.B. Tauris. (In the publication process)

• Yakar, Gülşen, and Eyüp Ensar Dal. “Elderly and Poor in Court Records, c. 1773: Societal Norms and Legal Rights.” in Ottoman Historical Readings: A Source Book, Linda T. Darling, Matthew Lubin (eds.) Cambridge University Press (In the publication process)

Academic Presentations

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Emotions in the Early Modern Ottoman Ego-Documents.” LMU Turkology Oberseminar, Munich, 2026.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı Ben-Anlatılarına Yöntem Bilimsel Yaklaşım ve Duygular Tarihine Bir Katkı.” OSARK (Uluslararası Osmanlı Araştırmaları Kongresi), Venice, 2025.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Erenler, Hak Yolunda Meczûplar ve Bir Hânende-Dervîş: Enfî/ Burnaz Hasan Hulûs (ö.1724) ve Tezkiretü’l-Müteahhirîn/Saints, Holy Madmen and a Court Songster-Dervish: Enfî/Burnaz Hasan Hulûs (d.1724) and Tezkiretü’l-Müteahhirîn.” OLBA 2024 Üsküp: Osmanlı Literatüründe Ben-Anlatıları Sempozyumu, Skopje, 2024.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Kâh Bükâ, Kâh Zevk ü Safâ: 17. Yüzyıl İstanbul’unda Bir Dervişin Gündelik Hayatı.” Turkologentag 2023- The Fourth European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies, Vienna, 2023.

• Yakar, Gülşen, and Eyüp Ensar Dal. “Osmanlı Toplumunda Aile İlişkileri, Yasal Yükümlülük ve Yaşlı Yoksulluğu: 18. Yüzyıl Üsküdar Kadı Mahkemesi Örneği/Familial Relations, Legal Obligation and Elderly Poverty in the Ottoman Society: The Case of 18th Century Üsküdar Kadı Court.” III. Uluslararası Osmanlı Araştırmaları Kongresi (OSARK), Istanbul, 2022.

• Yakar, Gülşen. “Seyyid Hasan’ın Sohbetnâme’si: Tarihsel Kaynak ve Ben-Anlatısı Olarak Günlük Üzerine Bazı Gözlemler/Seyyid Hasan's Sohbetnâme: Some Observations on the Diary as Historical Source and Self-Narrative”. Osmanlı Literatüründe Ben-Anlatıları Sempozyumu, Istanbul, 2022.