In her presentation entitled On Textual Understanding: Teaching Complexity in Turkish History through Romance Philology, Esra gave an insight into her current research project. Starting from the methodological question, she took up Peter Szondi's idea of "textual understanding" and argued why and how philological analysis of literary texts can help shed light on historical chapters and experiences. To demonstrate this 'work on language', Esra showed excerpts and images from Beki L. Bahar's play ikiyüzbininci gece. The play tells the story of Jewish life in Ankara at the beginning of the 20th century, a history that had been largely forgotten by the time the play was published in 1986. Written in Ladino and Turkish and interwoven with actual historical photographs and prints documenting Jewish life in Turkey, the book is an example of how complex histories can be understood through philological work.
Photo: Beki L. Bahar’s play ikiyüzbininci gece.