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FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Handbook for the Final Honour School in

Trinity Term 2014

TURKISH

TURKISH WITH A SUBSIDIARY

LANGUAGE

TURKISH WITH ISLAMIC ART AND

ARCHAEOLOGY

(Includes information about those Turkish

papers that are shared between Oriental

Studies and European and Middle Eastern

Languages, as specified in Examination

Regulations)

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DATES OF FULL TERM

2012-13

Michaelmas Term 7 October – 1 December 2012

Hilary Term 13 January – 9 March 2013

Trinity Term 21 April – 15 June 2013

2013-14

Michaelmas Term 13 October – 7 December 2013

Hilary Term 19 January – 15 March 2014

Trinity Term 27 April – 21 June 2014

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CONTENTS

Preparation for the Final Honour School (FHS) 4

Teaching 4

Public Examinations 5

Course Descriptions (years 3 and 4) 8

Turkish only 8

Turkish with a subsidiary language 10

Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology 11

FHS Papers 14

Tk. 1 Unprepared Translation from Ottoman and Modern Turkish 15

Tk. 2 Translation into Turkish and Essay in Turkish 16

Tk. 3 Spoken Turkish 17 79

Tk. 4 Ottoman Historical Texts 19

Tk. 5 Turkish Political and Cultural Texts, 1860 to the present 21 81

Tk. 6 Modern Turkish Literary Texts 23

Tk. 7 Turkish and Ottoman Literary Texts, 1300-1900 26

Tk. 8 Turkish Literature: General Questions 28

Tk. 9 Turkish Language Reform and Language Politics from

1850 to the present day 29 85

Tk. 10 The Ottoman Empire 1300-1566 31

Tk. 11 The Ottoman Empire 1566-1807 32

Tk. 12 The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, 1807-1980 33

Tk. 13 Turkish Prose Composition and Unprepared Translation

(for Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology) 34

Tk. 14 Ottoman Texts (for Turkish with Islamic Art and

Archaeology 35

Tk. 15 Modern Turkish Texts (for Turkish with Islamic Art and

Archaeology) 36

Tk. 16 Special Subject 37

Teaching Staff 38

Appendix I: Guidelines for Writers of Dissertations and Theses 41

Appendix II: Faculty Information 46

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Preparation for the Final Honour School (FHS)

During your last two years you will be preparing for the papers which constitute

the final examination (FHS). It is this examination alone which determines your

degree result (or “class”).

You will divide your time in these two years between Turkish language work to

enhance the fluency and accuracy of your comprehension and expression, and

other kinds of study according to the syllabus you have chosen. The detailed

reading of a selection of prescribed texts, in both modern and Ottoman Turkish, is

a key part of all courses, and gives you direct access to the conceptual world of

this language, whether past or present.

Within each course there are certain elements of choice: in the case of Turkish

only, there are three slots that can be filled by various options in history, literature

and/or language reform, and the Special Subject can be either a specially designed

course of study or a dissertation; in the case of Turkish with a Subsidiary

Language, the Special Subject is itself optional; in Turkish with Islamic Art and

Archaeology the element of choice affects both the history paper and the subject

of the thesis. The date by which application to the Faculty Board for the approval

of Special Subjects or dissertation/thesis titles has to be made is Monday of the

second week of the Michaelmas Term preceding the examination – normally Year

4.

The final examinations take place in Trinity Term of Year 4 (see section below on

Public Examinations). Your time during this term is mainly your own for revision,

although language classes continue in order to keep your skills in trim, and

tutorials can also be arranged if and when you need them.

TEACHING

In Years 3 and 4 you should expect to have approximately 3-4 hours of language

instruction, 6-8 hours of lectures or classes, and 1-2 hours of tutorials per week. Several

of the weekly classes will be devoted to the study of your prescribed texts (“set texts”),

and you will be expected to prepare the appropriate section of text in advance. If you are

taking Turkish with a Subsidiary Language, Year 3 will be particularly heavy, with an

intensive elementary class of 6-7 hours in the subsidiary language. The subjects and

hours of all lectures, classes and seminars appear in the Oriental Studies lecture list,

which is posted prominently in the foyer of the Institute at the beginning of each term;

copies are also available from your college, and on the web

(http://intranet.orient.ox.ac.uk/lectures/). The location of lectures and classes in the

Institute is posted on the white board in the foyer. Time permitting, you are encouraged

to attend lectures outside the Institute, in other faculties, etc.

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Tutorials. In all three terms of Year 3 and the first two terms of Year 4 you will have

regular language tutorials, for which (usually in alternate weeks) you will write short

essays in Turkish and translate selected passages of English into Turkish. Apart from

enhancing your active command of the written language, these tutorials will prepare you

for the paper Tk. 2 in FHS. Depending on your course and the options you have chosen,

you will also have essay tutorials in history, literature, or art history, and some for

which you will write essays on your set texts. Tutorials are the essence of the traditional

Oxford system of undergraduate education. Whether organized individually or in a pair

or small group, they give you the opportunity to have your work corrected and assessed

by an expert, to discuss both specific points and wider issues, and to seek clarification

of anything you are finding difficult.

Tutors submit written reports to your college on your progress at the end of each term,

and sooner if necessary, and these reports will be discussed with you by your college

tutor or other officers of the college.

Collections. In addition to FHS, you may also be given “collections” by your teachers

in the Institute, generally on the Friday or Saturday of 0th Week; these are informal

examinations, usually intended to test your command of material covered during the

previous term. Again, the results of collections are communicated to your college.

What to do if something goes wrong...

Inevitably, things do sometimes go wrong. You, your teachers, or both may be at fault,

but, tempting though it is to apportion blame, it is far more important to act quickly to

resolve the problem. In the first instance, talk to the teacher concerned, which is the

most direct way to address the problem. If this doesn’t work, consult one of the

following: in the Institute, the Course Co-ordinator for Turkish, or if necessary, the

Chairman of the Undergraduate Studies Committee; in your college, your personal or

moral tutor. If your problem is a general one, not personal, discuss it with your fellow

students and raise it at the Joint Consultative Committee (see Islamic Studies

Handbook).

For information about making a complaint, see Appendix II of this handbook, item 1.

Course Co-ordinator for Turkish Dr Laurent Mignon

PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS

GENERAL. The final examinations – FHS – are sat in the Examination Schools in the

High Street. You will be informed in writing, some weeks in advance, of the dates and

times of your examinations. You must attend wearing subfusc, the precise definition of

which is made clear in a letter sent to you by the Chairman of Examiners in advance of

the Examination.

The book called Examination Regulations (usually referred to simply as “the Grey

Book”) is the final authority on the scope and conduct of examinations. It is updated

annually, and is accessible online at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/. All first-

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year undergraduates receive a hard copy of the current edition through their college

when they first arrive. If any changes to the regulations governing the course upon

which you have entered are made while you are still on course, you will be fully

informed. In such an event you have the right to be examined under the old regulations

if you so wish.

Copies of past papers for all examinations in Oriental Studies are available in the

Institute library. They may also be accessed online at:

http://missun29.offices.ox.ac.uk/pls/oxam/main

In the event of a paper which is being set for the first time, or in a markedly changed

format, students will be supplied with a specimen paper to guide them in their

preparation.

The communication of examination results to students is now exclusively online. Please

note that the Examination Schools Staff are not permitted to give out any results

over the telephone. Detailed marks are available on the ‘Academic and Assessment

Information’ page on your online Oxford Student Self Service a few days after the

Faculties’ final examiners’ meetings in July (See http://www.ox.ac.uk/current_students/registration_self_service/student_self_service.html)

THE FINAL HONOUR SCHOOL consists of nine or ten papers, depending on the

course, and this total includes an oral examination in Turkish. The oral examination takes

place in 0th Week of Trinity Term of Year 4, and the written examination towards the end

of Trinity Term of that year.

Syllabus. In the case of papers which are not linguistically or textually based, the title of

a particular paper, as given in the Examination Regulations, is usually the only formal

definition of its scope. In such papers there is always a wide choice of essay-type

questions, and past papers are a good guide to the kind of topics that can be expected to

occur.

Where a paper is based wholly or partly upon a corpus of texts that have been

prescribed for study (“set texts”), you should receive a list of those texts from the staff

member(s) teaching you for that particular paper. The list is also published in the

section of this FHS Handbook which relates to that paper, and is updated at the time of

the publication of this handbook, i.e. at the beginning of Hilary Term each year (not

later than Friday of 3rd Week) for the examination in the following academic year. This

is to allow the teaching staff to introduce different texts from time to time, but no

changes are allowed after the above-mentioned date, which is 16 months before the

examination in question. The same definitive lists of set texts for your exams are posted

on the following webpage:

http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/general/set_texts.html

Setting conventions. By about the middle of Hilary Term of your fourth year, the

“setting conventions” for your FHS will be available on the Faculty’s website

(http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/html/iw/turkish.html). The conventions provide a detailed

http://missun29.offices.ox.ac.uk/pls/oxam/mainhttp://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/general/set_texts.htmlhttp://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/html/iw/turkish.html

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description of the format of each paper that you will be taking in the FHS. The

description will include an indication of any subdivision of the paper into sections, the

number and type (e.g. translation, commentary, essay) of questions to be asked, the

number of questions that candidates are required to answer, any rules governing the

distribution of their choices between different sections of the paper, and the distribution

of marks between questions. The object of the conventions is to assist candidates in

organising their revision.

Dissertation/Thesis. Theses have to be handed in by Friday of the 10th

Week of Hilary

Term of Year 4 (i.e. early in the Easter Vacation). For further information see Appendix

I: Final Honour School in Oriental Studies (Islamic Studies courses): Guidelines for

Writers of Dissertations and Theses.

Viva. Very occasionally, in order to resolve a borderline result, a student is asked to

attend a viva voce examination after the written papers have been assessed by the

examiners. Vivas are conducted in the Oriental Institute, and candidates must attend

wearing subfusc.

The Examinations Committee of the Faculty of Oriental Studies has published the

following guidelines relating to the holding of Vivas:

Candidates may be examined by viva voce (oral examination) and so candidates should

be prepared to travel to Oxford up until the final examiners’ meeting (normally first

week of July, but may be later).

In deciding to conduct a Viva, examiners and assessors should bear in mind that:

1. The reason for holding a Viva must be clear and is when examiners are otherwise unable to determine the class of the submitted papers.

2. A Viva must not be used as a means of assessing suspicions about possible plagiarism.

3. A candidate must be given 2-3 days notice of the Viva. 4. The Viva must be scheduled to take place before the final examiners’ meeting. 5. A candidate who attends for a Viva can only improve on a class mark as a result

of the Viva.

Classes. Results in FHS are classified according to the following scale: I, II.1, II.2, III,

Pass, Fail. Below you will find an official description of the criteria applied in the

assessment of examination answers in the FHS in Oriental Studies, and a statement of

what the different classes of degree “mean” in terms of the qualities of performance

achieved. It should be added that, while all written papers (including a thesis, if any) are

weighted equally, in Islamic Studies (including Turkish) the oral examination is

weighted as half of one paper. Note that the statement about “optional exercises” applies

only to the Special Subject in Turkish with a Subsidiary Language.

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Assessment of examination answers in FHS in Oriental Studies

The ‘Guidelines for the setting and marking of examinations’ document is

available on:

http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/docs/Exams/marking_guidelines.pdf

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (YEARS 3 & 4)

TURKISH ONLY

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR: Dr Laurent Mignon

AIMS AND CONTENT

The course aims:

1. to make you proficient in reading, writing and speaking modern Turkish;

2. to familiarize you with the evolution and concerns of modern Turkish literature,

and to develop your literary critical skills;

3. to teach you to read Ottoman historical texts of various periods, and to give you

the ability to interpret and analyse them.

4. to help you to understand the major cultural and political issues which have been

involved in Turkey’s transition from empire to modern nationhood.

5. to provide options in the study of Ottoman and modern Turkish history, in

Ottoman and traditional Turkish literature, and in the language reform

movement that has left such a mark on the contemporary language.

Throughout Years 3 and 4 you will be pursuing several different kinds of study in

parallel. Language work will continue steadily, and will focus on two types of teaching

session. You will have language tutorials, normally once a week, for which you will

usually produce either a translation from English into Turkish or a short essay (of about

400 words) in Turkish, for discussion with your tutor. There will also be 3 hours per

week of classes conducted in Turkish, designed to improve your active command of the

language. One of these will be devoted to the reading of articles from the contemporary

Turkish press, one to discussion of the political or cultural issues raised in those articles,

and one to direct practice for the aural comprehension component of the FHS paper

‘Spoken Turkish’. The study of prescribed texts (‘set texts’), both Ottoman and modern,

historical, literary and political, will form another major ingredient of your course work.

Depending on the options you have chosen, you can expect to spend 4-6 hours per week

in the first four terms in classes devoted to the close reading and explication of these

texts, to which you must come adequately prepared.

http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/docs/Exams/marking_guidelines.pdf

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One element of choice in this course comes in the range of options for papers 7, 8 and 9.

It is possible, if you so wish, to devote all three of these options to history, in which

case you can either cover the entire span of Ottoman and modern Turkish history from

1300 to 1980, or you can combine one or two Ottoman options with one from the wider

history of the Islamic Middle East. Those who are more interested in language and

literature can choose instead a texts-based paper on classical Ottoman poetry and

traditional Turkish popular literature, a paper on general topics in Turkish literature, and

a paper on Turkish language reform. Combinations of historical and non-historical

papers are also possible in this course.

Finally, in the choice of your Special Subject (to be worked on in Hilary Term of Year

4) you have the opportunity to pursue in greater depth a topic that particularly interests

you, whether this be in language, literature, history, culture or politics. Your Special

Subject topic has to be approved by the Faculty Board at the beginning of your final

year. If you choose to write a dissertation for your Special Subject the length of this can

be up to 15,000 words. (See Appendix I for general guidance on the writing of

dissertations.)

PAPERS

This course comprises ten papers.

1. Unprepared translation from Ottoman and modern Turkish (Tk. 1).

2. Translation into Turkish and essay in Turkish (Tk. 2).

3. Spoken Turkish (Tk. 3).

4. Ottoman historical texts (Tk. 4).

5. Turkish political and cultural texts, 1860 to the present (Tk. 5).

6. Modern Turkish literary texts (Tk. 6).

7, 8, 9. Three papers chosen from the following:

(a) Turkish and Ottoman literary texts, 1399-1900 (Tk. 7).

(b) Turkish literature: general questions (Tk. 8). (Only available to

candidates taking option (a).)

(c) Turkish language reform and language politics from 1850 to the present day

(Tk. 9).

(d) Islamic History, 570-1500 (Ar. 5; see Arabic FHS Handbook for description).

(e) The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1566 (Tk. 10).

(f) The Ottoman Empire, 1566-1807 (Tk. 11).

(g) The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, 1807-1980 (Tk. 12).

(h) Any one paper under 7 ii, v-ix, xiii, xv, xix and xx of the syllabus for Arabic

and Islamic Studies (Ar. 7; see Arabic FHS Handbook for descriptions).

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10. A Special Subject (Tk. 16), to be chosen in consultation with your tutors and

approved by the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies. A Special Subject may

be in language, literature, history, culture or politics; it may be examined in the

form of a dissertation.

TURKISH WITH A SUBSIDIARY LANGUAGE

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR: Dr Laurent Mignon

AIMS AND CONTENT

The course aims:

1. to make you proficient in reading, writing and speaking modern Turkish;

2. to familiarize you with the evolution and concerns of modern Turkish literature,

and to develop your literary critical skills;

3. to teach you to read Ottoman historical texts of various periods, and to give you

the ability to interpret and analyse them.

4. to help you to understand the major cultural and political issues which have been

involved in Turkey’s transition from empire to modern nationhood;

5. to provide you with a firm grounding in a second language with which Turkish is

historically and culturally linked, and to introduce you to the literature of that

language.

Throughout Years 3 and 4 you will be pursuing several different kinds of study in

parallel. Language work will continue steadily, and will focus on two types of teaching

session. You will have language tutorials, normally once a week, for which you will

usually produce either a translation from English into Turkish or a short essay (of about

400 words) in Turkish, for discussion with your tutor. There will also be 3 hours per

week of classes conducted in Turkish, designed to improve your active command of the

language. One of these will be devoted to the reading of articles from the contemporary

Turkish press, one to discussion of the political or cultural issues raised in those articles,

and one to direct practice for the aural comprehension component of the FHS paper

‘Spoken Turkish’. The study of prescribed texts (‘set texts’), both Ottoman and modern,

historical, literary and political, will form another major ingredient of your course work.

In Year 3 and the first term of year 4 you can expect to spend up to 4 hours per week in

classes devoted to the close reading and explication of these texts, to which you must

come adequately prepared.

Your subsidiary language will probably demand at least one-third of your time,

especially in Year 3, when you will be attending an intensive elementary class. Because

of the heavy demands of a course combining two languages, the Special Subject is

optional in this course. Any Special Subject topic has to be approved by the Faculty

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Board at the beginning of your final year. If you choose to write a dissertation the length

of this can be up to 15,000 words. (See Appendix I for general guidance on the writing

of dissertations.)

PAPERS

This course comprises nine papers, plus an optional Special Subject.

Turkish - 6 Papers

1. Unprepared translation from Ottoman and modern Turkish (Tk. 1).

2. Translation into Turkish and essay in Turkish (Tk. 2).

3. Spoken Turkish (Tk. 3).

4. Ottoman historical texts (Tk. 4).

5. Turkish political and cultural texts, 1860 to the present (Tk. 5).

6. Modern Turkish literary texts (Tk. 6).

Subsidiary Language - 3 Papers from ONE of the following:

7, 8, 9. (N.B. Detailed syllabuses for these subsidiary papers are not given here for

reasons of space, and may be found in Examination Regulations.)

Arabic: co-ordinator Dr Nadia Jamil

Armenian: co-ordinator Professor Theo van Lint

Persian: co-ordinator: Dr Edmund Herzig

Hindi/Urdu: Dr Imre Bangha

Classics: College Tutor

Optional Special Subject

10. A Special Subject (Tk. 16), to be chosen in consultation with your tutors and

approved by the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies. A Special Subject may

be in language, literature, history, culture or politics; it may be examined in the

form of a dissertation.

TURKISH WITH ISLAMIC ART & ARCHAEOLOGY

COURSE CO-ORDINATORS: Dr Laurent Mignon, Dr Luke Treadwell (Islamic Art

and Archaeology)

AIMS AND CONTENT

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The course aims:

1. to make you proficient in reading, writing and speaking modern Turkish;

2. to give you a basic competence in reading Ottoman, and an introduction to some

kinds of historical and epigraphic source material.

3. to give you an introduction to modern Turkish literature;

4. to give you an insight into modern Turkish discussions of cultural issues,

including attitudes to the Ottoman cultural heritage;

5. to provide you with a broad knowledge of the history and intellectual culture of

Islam;

6. to familiarise you with the general course of the evolution of Islamic art and

archaeology;

7. to help you to develop the skills of description, analysis, and interpretation of the

material culture of Islam.

In Years 3 and 4 you will begin to acquire a specialised knowledge of your subject. Two

core language papers help you to broaden and to deepen your command of Turkish.

Two text papers introduce you to Ottoman historical texts and modern Turkish

literature. Three core papers in the art and archaeology of Islamic societies lead you

through the evolution of Islamic material culture from its origins in late antiquity until

the eighteenth century. In addition you must take one paper in history and culture,

chosen from a range of options that is kept as wide as possible: from early and medieval

Islamic history to the history of Turkey in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; from

the rise of the Sufi orders to Society and Culture in the Modern Arab World. In

addition, the thesis that you will write in Year 4 will give you the opportunity to design

a programme of research, with the advice of your tutors, to suit your own interests and

enthusiasms.

Graduates will have acquired a range of expertise. Linguistic proficiency and

knowledge of the general culture and religion of Islam may lead some towards a variety

of jobs connected with Turkey, such as diplomacy, journalism, broadcasting, banking

and business. Other graduates may decide to make use of their specialist knowledge of

Islamic art and archaeology. There is a small but steady demand for trained Islamic

archaeologists, both in the field and in museums and research institutions, throughout

the Middle East and in Europe. Others still may choose to pursue an academic career by

taking a research degree in Islamic Art and Archaeology.

PAPERS:

This course comprises nine papers.

Turkish Language - 2 Papers

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1. Turkish prose composition and unprepared translation (Tk. 13).

2. Spoken Turkish (Tk. 3).

Turkish Texts - 2 Papers

3. Ottoman texts (Tk. 14).

4. Modern Turkish texts (Tk. 15).

Islamic Art and Archaeology - 3 Papers

5. Islamic Art and Archaeology, c. 550—c.1900 (identical to Paper 8 xi of the

syllabus for Arabic and Islamic Studies)

6 & 7. Topics in Islamic Art and Architecture, c.1000–c.1900], to be examined by

means of a timed paper , and by means of an extended essay, which shall not

exceed 6,000 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography), and shall be

on a topic or theme selected by the candidate from a question paper published by

the examiners on or before the Friday of the fourth week of Michaelmas Term in

the year of examination available for collection from the Oriental Institute Faculty

Office. Essays should be typed or word-processed in double-spacing and should

conform to the standards of academic presentation prescribed in the “Guidelines

for Writers of Theses” in the course handbook. Essays shall normally be written

during the Michaelmas Term in the year of examination and must be delivered by

hand to the Examination Schools (addressed to the Chairman of Examiners,

Honour School of Oriental Studies, Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford)

not later than 12 noon on the Friday before the beginning of Hilary Full Term of

the year of examination. Candidates delivering essays will be required to

complete a receipt form, which will only be accepted as proof of receipt if it is

countersigned by a member of the Examination Schools staff. The essay must be

accompanied by a sealed envelope (bearing only the candidate’s examination

number) containing a formal declaration signed by the candidate that the essay is

his or her own work. The University’s regulations on Late Submission of Work

apply. Any candidate may be examined viva voce.

Islamic History – 1 Paper

8. One paper in history under 7, 8, 9 of the syllabus for Turkish, except 7.vi of the

syllabus for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Aspects of Islamic art, architecture and

archaeology.

Thesis - 1 Paper

9. Thesis.

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DESCRIPTIONS OF THE TURKISH FHS

PAPERS

WITH THE LISTS OF SET TEXTS FOR THE 2014

EXAMINATION WHERE APPLICABLE

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Tk. 1

UNPREPARED TRANSLATION FROM OTTOMAN AND MODERN TURKISH

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with a Subsidiary Language

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon, Dr Emine Çakır

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Years 3 and 4.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Translation from Turkish into English forms a major part of

the work of the ‘set texts’ classes which you will be attending several hours a week

throughout Year 3 (and perhaps in the first term of Year 4 also). The detailed guidance

on translation strategies and techniques that you will receive in these classes should,

together with your own work on vocabulary learning, provide you with sufficient skills

and knowledge to tackle unseen translations with confidence, at least as far as modern

Turkish is concerned. You will also get ‘exam-type’ practice in modern unseen

translation in collections. As your overall exposure to Ottoman will have been less

extensive, in Hilary and Trinity Terms of Year 4 you will have a weekly session on

Ottoman unseen translation.

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Tk. 2

TRANSLATION INTO TURKISH AND ESSAY IN TURKISH

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with a Subsidiary Language

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon, Dr Emine Çakır

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Years 3 and 4. 1 hour tutorial per week (alternately for

translation and essay writing).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Your skills in translating from English into Turkish, involving

appropriate vocabulary choices in both semantic and stylistic terms, grammatically

correct sentence construction, and the linking of sentences together in a way which is

cohesive and which develops the argument as required, will be built up gradually over

this period.

Essay writing in Turkish involves the same command of vocabulary, idiom and style,

but here, instead of the requirement to reflect the sense of an English source text as

accurately as possible you have the freedom - and the challenge - of creating a Turkish

text that reflects your own knowledge and perspective on a given topic. The length of

essay expected in the examination, and also in your work for tutorials, is about 400

words. Essays are evaluated not just in terms of linguistic skills but also as pieces of

academic writing. That is to say, as in all essay writing at Oxford you will be expected

to develop a clear, strong argument and to present appropriate evidence to support it.

The topics set may relate specifically to Turkey or to some aspect of Turkish life, or

may reflect issues of general political or cultural interest. The essays that you write for

your tutorials will be co-ordinated with the topics that you are working on in Spoken

Turkish classes, which in turn will have been the subject of newspaper articles read in

the language classes ‘Political and Cultural Articles’. The living experience of Turkish

that you will have acquired during your year abroad will, of course, greatly assist you in

the development of your writing skills.

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Tk.3

SPOKEN TURKISH (ORAL)

COURSES: All Turkish Courses (see also Examination Regulations).

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon, Dr Emine Çakır

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Years 3 and 4 (See TK.1 and TK.2)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The classes in ‘Spoken Turkish’ are designed to build upon the

oral and aural language skills that you will have acquired during your Year Abroad.

Much use is made of material from recent newspapers (‘Political and Cultural

Articles’), both in order to familiarise you with topics of current concern and debate in

Turkey, and also to provide you with the necessary vocabulary and structures to discuss

such issues yourself. A third type of language class is ‘Aural Comprehension’, which

trains you for part (i) of the oral examination.

The ‘Spoken Turkish’ component of FHS consists of the following parts:

i) Listening comprehension. Candidates will be presented with a list of factual

questions, in Turkish, relating to the content of the text that they are about to hear.

They will be allowed five minutes to study these questions. A recorded Turkish text,

lasting about five minutes, will then be played to them twice, with a pause of five

minutes between the two playings. Candidates will be required to write brief answers to

each question, in Turkish, in the spaces provided on the question sheet. A further ten

minutes after the end of the second playing of the recorded text will be allowed for

candidates to complete their answers.

(ii) Conversation

(a) Each candidate will be required to discuss with the examiner a topic

chosen by the candidate from a list of three announced one hour before the

commencement of the oral examination. (Approximate duration ten to fifteen

minutes.)

(b) Candidates will be presented with a brief written description, in English,

of a situation from everyday life in which they are required to imagine

themselves. The description will include instructions as to what they are trying to

achieve by verbal communication in that situation. Each candidate will be given

five to ten minutes’ preparation time, and will then be asked to conduct a dialogue

with the examiner, in Turkish, appropriate to the situation and goal specified.

(Approximate duration, excluding preparation time, five to ten minutes.)

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(iii) Interpreting.

Each candidate will be required to interpret, in a non-technical subject area,

between a person speaking Turkish and a person speaking English. (Approximate

duration ten minutes.)

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Tk. 4

OTTOMAN HISTORICAL TEXTS

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with a Subsidiary Language (see also Examination

Regulations).

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Zeynep Yürekli-Görkay, Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Year 3 (Hilary and Trinity Terms). 2-3 hours of classes per

week. Occasional essay tutorials.

SET TEXTS:

Ashıqpashazade tarihi, ed. Ali Bey (repr. Farnborough, 1970), pp. 6-7, 142-143.*

Neşri tarihi, ed. Faik Reşit Unat and Mehmed A.Köymen (Ankara, 1949), i, pp. 138-

142.*

Menakıb-ı Mahmud Paşa, transcribed by Neşe Çelik (Master’s thesis, Mimar Sinan

University, 1998, pp. 10-16 [A6a: line 18].

Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, v (Istanbul, 1897), pp. 255-259 (down to line 22).*

Hüseyin Tuği, Vak′a-i Sultan Osman Han, ed. Fahir İz, Türk Dili Araştırmaları Yıllığı

Belleten 266 (1967) [1968], pp. 124-127 (down to line 4).*

* If presented on the examination paper, extracts from these items will be in Ottoman script only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This paper introduces students to the major topics in Ottoman

history and historiography of the 15th-17th centuries through a close reading of elected

primary texts. Selections are from three Ottoman chronicles, a book of travels, a reform

treatise, an autobiographical essay, and a dream diary. You will learn about the

historical contexts these texts reflect and explore how the Ottoman authors responded to

significant developments in Ottoman history. Topics will include the nature of the early

Ottoman expansion and the “gaza thesis”, the reconstruction of Istanbul after the

conquest, devşirme recruitment, the 1622 revolt that led to the execution of Sultan

Osman II, and the dreams of a 17th-century Ottoman princess. The examination will

contain passages from the set texts for translation with annotation. There will also be a

choice of essay questions on the subject matter, style, purpose or historical importance

of particular texts. Some of the essay questions will ask for comment on a passage

reproduced on the examination paper.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Faroqhi, Suraiya. Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire,

New York, 2000.

Finkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923,

London, 2005.

Goffman, Daniel. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe, Cambridge, 2002.

20

Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power, New York,

2002.

İnalcık Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, translated by

Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber, London, 1989, c1973.

Kafadar, Cemal. Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoma State, Berkeley,

1995.

21

Tk. 5

TURKISH POLITICAL AND CULTURAL TEXTS, 1860 TO THE PRESENT

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with a Subsidiary Language

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: 40 hours spread over three terms. 2 hours of classes per

week. Occasional essay tutorials.

SET TEXTS: SET TEXTS:

(a) Late Ottoman and modern Turkish political documents

Düstur, iv [İstanbul, A.H. 1299], pp. 4 - 6 (line 17).*

Türk Anayasa Metinleri, ed. Suna Kili and Şeref Gözübüyük (n.p., n.d.), pp. 91 - 92

(line 13), 111 - 112 (line 12).

(b) Political and cultural writings from the period since 1860

Namık Kemal, Makalat-ı siyasiye ve edebiye (İstanbul, A.H. 1327), pp. 75-80: ‘Yine

Girid meselesi tazelendi’.*

İsak Ferera Efendi, ‘İsminden Utanan Yahudiler’, Mir’ât 2 (17 Şubat 1324[=2 March

1909])) , pp. 21-23. *

Yahya Kemal, Azîz İstanbul (Istanbul, 1964), pp. 121-24: ‘Ezansız semtler’. (AT)

Ziya Gökalp, Türkçülüğün Esasları, 5. Basılış (Istanbul, 1963), pp. 31-35: ‘Halka

doğru’. (AT)

Sabahattin Eyuboğlu, Mavi ve Kara, 2. Basım (İstanbul, 1973), pp. 5-10: ‘Bizim

Anadolu’. (AT)

Murat Belge, Tarihten Güncelliğe (İstanbul, 1983), pp. 56-61: ‘Ortadoğu’nun Ortak

Kültürü’. (AT)

Ali Bulaç, Gündemdeki Konular: Modernizm-İrtica-Sivilleşme, 3. Basım (İstanbul:

1991), pp. 53-59: ‘Kimlik Sorunu’. (AT)

* These items are studied and examined in Ottoman script.

Texts followed by (AT) are also on the Additional Turkish Set Texts list.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The purpose of this paper is to give you a good understanding

of the processes of constitutional, ideological and cultural change that were involved in

the transformation from a traditional, pre-national, multi-ethnic empire to the modern,

national, and culturally diverse Republic of Turkey. The texts set for this paper include

excerpts from the Ottoman constitution of 1876, the provisional constitution of 1921

and the first constitution of the Republic of Turkey (1924). There is also a wide

selection of writings on political and cultural issues, ranging chronologically from the

1860’s to the 1990’s. The texts include an article by one of the oppositional Young

Ottoman writers of the 1860s, an essay on Ottoman Jewish identity by a leading

Ottoman Jewish intellectual, and writings from the early and late 20th century

representing a spectrum of nationalist, humanist, leftist and Islamist viewpoints on

questions of modern Turkish identity. The examination will contain passages from the

22

set texts for translation with annotation. There will also be a choice of essay questions

on the subject matter, style, purpose or historical importance of particular texts. Some of

the essay questions will ask for comment on a passage reproduced on the examination

paper.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Ahmad, Feroz. The Making of Modern Turkey, London, 1993.

Davison, Roderic. Turkey: A Short History, 3rd edn., Huntingdon, 1998.

Hanioglu, Sukru. The Young Turks in Opposition. Oxford : Oxford University Press,

1995.

Heper, Metin et al. (eds). Turkey and the West: Changing Political and Cultural

Identities, London, 1993. (Chapters 4, 5, 11.)

Kadioglu, Ayse et al. (eds). Symbiotic Antagonisms: Competing Nationalisms in Turkey.

Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 2011.

Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 2nd edn, London, 1968.

Macfie, A.L., Atatürk, London, 1994.

Mango, Andrew. Atatürk, London, 1999.

Poulton, Hugh. Top Hat, Grey Wolf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish

Republic, London, 1997

Zürcher, Erik Jan. Turkey: A Modern History, Revised edn, London, 2004.

23

Tk. 6

MODERN TURKISH LITERARY TEXTS

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with a Subsidiary Language

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: 40 hours spread over three terms. 2 hours of

classes per week. Occasional essay tutorials.

SET TEXTS:

a) A selection of modern prose Vartan Paşa, Excerpt from Akabi Hikyayesi, ed. Andreas Tietze (Istanbul: Eren

Yayıncılık, 1991), pp. 47-49.

Ahmet Midhat Efendi, Excerpt from Felâtun Bey ile Râkım Efendi, ed. Tacettin Şimşek

(Ankara: Akçağ, 2011), pp. 4-7.

Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem, Excerpt from Araba Sevdası, Reprinted from Bütün Eserleri

III, ed. İ Parlatır, N. Çetin and H. Sazyek (Ankara: Millî Bakanlığı Yayınları, 1997), pp.

300-302.

Ömer Seyfettin, ‘Gizli Mabet’, Bütün Eserleri: Hikâyeler 3, ed. Hülya Argunşah

(Istanbul: Dergâh Yayınları, 1999), pp. 332-339. (AT)

Refik Halit Karay, ‘Hülya Bu Ya’, Reprinted in Özlem Alpin, Türk Bilimkurgu Öyküleri

(Istanbul: İm Kitapları, 2003), pp. 11-22. (AT)

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, Excerpt from Ankara (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları,

2000), pp. 86-90.

Sait Faik, ‘Semaver’, Reprinted in Şükran Kurdakul, Çağdaş Türk Edebiyatı (Ankara:

Bilgi Yayınevi, 1994), pp. 58-60. (AT)

Sabahattin Ali, ‘Köpek’, Kağnı/Ses (Istanbul: Can Yayınevi, 1994), pp. 150-161.

Füruzan, ‘Parasız Yatılı’, Parasız Yatılı ([Istanbul:] Karacan Yayınları, 1981), pp. 112-

18.

Orhan Pamuk, Excerpt from İstanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir, (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları,

2006), pp. 224-228. (AT)

Leyla Erbil, Excerpt from Tuhaf Bir Kadın, (Istanbul: Okuyan Us, 2005), pp. 23-28.

Karin Karakaşlı, ‘Garine’, Can Kırıkları, 3. Baskı (Istanbul: Doğan Kitapçılık, 2007),

pp. 9-14. (AT)

a) A selection of modern poetry İbrahim Şinasi, ‘Münacat’, Reprinted in Kenan Akyüz, Batı Tesirinde Türk Şiiri

Antolojisi 1860-1923 (Istanbul: İnkılap Yayınları, 1986), pp. 10-11.

Tevfik Fikret, ‘Haluk’un Amentüsü’, Bütün Şiirleri, ed. İ. Parlatır and N. Çetin

(Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 2001), pp. 541-2.

Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, ‘Kaldırımlar 1’ , ‘Kaldırımlar 2’ and ‘Kaldırımlar 3’, Çile

(İstanbul: Büyük Doğu Yayınları, 2000), pp. 156-160.

Nazım Hikmet, ‘Piyer Loti’ (AT) and [from ‘Rubailer’] ‘1’, ‘5’, ‘6’, Bütün Şiirleri

(Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2007), pp. 34-37, 731, 733.

Yahya Kemal, ‘Koca Mustapaşa’, Kendi Gök Kubbemiz (Istanbul: İstanbul Fetih

Cemiyeti, 1999), pp. 48-52. (AT)

24

Orhan Veli, ‘Sere Serpe’, ‘Şoförün Karısı’, Bütün Şiirleri (Istanbul: Adam Yayınları,

1999), pp. 44 and 91. (AT)

Cemal Süreya, ‘Elma’ (AT), ‘Sayım’, Sevda Sözleri (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları,

2000), pp. 25 and 119.

Atillâ İlhan, ‘Ben Sana Mecburum’, Bütün Şiirleri 4: Ben Sana Mecburum (Ankara:

Bilgi Yayınevi) pp. 100-102.

Gülten Akın, ‘Oyun’, Reprinted in Ataol Behramoğlu, Son Yüzyıl Büyük Türk Şiiri

Antolojisi 2 (Istanbul: Sosyal Yayınlar, 1997), pp. 709-710. (AT)

Birhan Keskin, ‘Delilirikler I’ and ‘‘Delilirikler II’, Reprinted in Mustafa Sever,

Divan’dan Günümüze Türk Kadın Şairler Antolojisi (Istanbul: Yön Yayıncılık, 1993),

pp. 169-171. (AT)

Ataol Behramoğlu, ‘Bu Aşk Burada Biter’, Seçme Şiirler (Istanbul: Adam Yayınları,

2000), p. 11. (AT)

Sezai Karakoç, Leylâ ile Mecnun: ‘Yolların Getirdiği’, Gün Doğmadan: Şiirler

(Istanbul: Diriliş Yayınları, 2010), p.519-522.

Hilmi Yavuz, ‘Doğunun Ölümleri’ and ‘Doğunun Kadınları’, Toplu Şiirler 1: Gülün

Ustası Yoktur (Istanbul: Can Yayınları, 1993), pp. 136-139.

Texts followed by (AT) are also on the Additional Turkish Set Texts list.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The texts set for this paper consist of selected short stories,

poetry and excerpts from novels from the post-Tanzimat period to the present day. The

detailed class study of the texts makes it possible for any linguistic problems to be dealt

with, and also for attention to be paid to the ways in which a writer’s style and narrative

technique contribute to the meaning of a work. The texts are discussed both in terms of

their literary qualities and, where relevant, in relation to their historical or political

context. The texts will provide you with a firm background in Turkish literary history.

They will also introduce you to some of the major issues explored by contemporary

critics in Turkey, from debates about minority literature to controversies on “native

orientalism”.

The examination will contain translation, commentary and essay questions. In

commentary questions on short stories you will be expected to bring out the significance

of a particular passage in relation to the work as a whole, and to discuss issues such as

style, narrative technique, point of view, and characterization. Commentaries on poetry

may involve comparisons between two or more poems, and in all cases you are

expected to be able to identify and discuss the particular strategies that contribute to a

poem’s overall effect. Essay questions will focus on the set texts themselves, but will

assume some knowledge of their authors and of the historical, literary and ideological

contexts in which the works were produced.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Göksu, Saime and Timms, Edward. Romantic Communist: The Life and Work of Nazim

Hikmet, London, 1999.

25

Evin, A.O., Origins and Development of the Turkish Novel, Minneapolis, 1983.

Heper, Metin et al. (eds). Turkey and the West: Changing Political and Cultural

Identities, London, 1993. (Chapters, 4, 5, 11.)

Kerslake, Celia. ‘New Directions in the Turkish Novel’, in Brian Beeley (ed.), Turkish

Transformation, Huntingdon, 2002.

Mignon, Laurent, ‘Lost in Transliteration: A Few Remarks on the Armeno–Turkish Novel and Turkish Literary Historiography’ in Evangelia Balta and Mehmet Ölmez, Between Religion and Language, Istanbul: Eren, 2011: 101-123. Ostle, Robin (ed.). Modern Literature in the Near and Middle East 1850-1970, London,

1991. (Chapters 7 and 12.)

Seyhan, Azade. Tales of Crossed Destinies: The Modern Turkish Novel in a Comparative Context. New York: The Modern Language Association, 2008.

26

Tk. 7

TURKISH AND OTTOMAN LITERARY TEXTS, 1300-1900

COURSES: Turkish only

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Trinity Term of Year 3 and Michaelmas Term of Year 4.

2-3 hours of classes per week. Occasional essay tutorials.

SET TEXTS:

(a) Religious poetry

Yunus Emre Divanı, ed. Faruk K. Timurtaş (n.p.: Tercüman Kitapçılık, n.d.), poems

numbered 128, 175, 190.

E.J.W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, vi (London, 1909), p. 5, no. 7 [Yunus

Emre].*

Süleyman Çelebi, Vesîletü’n-necât: Mevlid, ed. Ahmed Ateş (Ankara, 1954), pp. 96

(line 9) - 99 (line 8).

(b) Divan poetry

E.J.W. Gibb, HOP, items numbered 50 [Şeyhi], 192-3, 195, 203 [Fuzuli], 214 [Baki],

257 [Nef i], 327, 330 [Nedim].*

(c) Servet-i Fünun poetry

Tevfik Fikret, ‘Bahar-ı Teranedar’, ‘Sen Olmasan’, ‘Yağmur’, reprinted in Faruk K.

Timurtaş, Osmanlı Türkçesi Metinleri, 7. baskı (İstanbul, 1998), pp. 59-60, 52-3, 44-5.

Cenab Şahabeddin, ‘Son Arzu’, ‘Temaşa-yı Leyal’, reprinted in ibid., pp. 38, 8-9.*

(d) Aşık poetry (each poem is cited by its first line)

Pertev Naili Boratav and Halil Vedat Fıratlı, İzahlı Halk Şiiri Antolojisi (Ankara, 1943),

pp. 47-48, ‘Yamru yumru söylerim’; pp. 50-51, ‘Bir kaz aldım ben karıdan’. [Kaygusuz

Abdal].

İlhan Başgöz, İzahlı Türk Halk Edebiyatı Antolojisi (İstanbul, 1968), p. 151 ‘Dün gece

seyrimde coştu dağlar’, pp. 151-2, ‘Bize de Banaz’da Pir Sultan derler’; pp. 35-36,

‘Karşıda görünen ne güzel yayla’; Boratav and Fıratlı, İzahlı, p. 79, ‘Dağdan kütür kütür

hezen indirir’ [Pir Sultan Abdal].

Boratav and Fıratlı, İzahlı, p. 123, ‘İptida Bağdada sefer olanda’ [Kayıkçı Kul Mustafa].

İbid., pp. 107-8, ‘Ne çeker kulların serhad ilinde’ [Gazi Âşık Hasan].

İlhan Başgöz, Karac’Oğlan (n.p.: Cem Yayınevi, 1984), p. 62, ‘Ala gözlü benli dilber’;

p. 64, ‘Ala gözlüm yıktın benim evimi’; p. 95, ‘Gurbette ömrüm geçecek’; p. 140, ‘İzin

ver hey ağam ben de gideyim’ [Karacaoğlan]

Başgöz, İzahlı, p. 111, ‘Kalktı göç eyledi Avşar illeri’ [Dadaloğlu].

İbid., pp. 132-3, ‘Eyvah fukaranın beli büküldü’; p. 134, ‘Akıl ermez kulak duymaz göz

görmez’; p. 136, ‘Gönül bir boyadan rengin almadı’ [Seyrani].

(e) Popular prose literature

Dede Korkut Kitabı: Metin – Sözluk, ed. Muharrem Ergin (Ankara, 1964), p. 61 (line

15) - p. 68 (line 7).

* These items are studied and examined in Ottoman script.

27

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This paper is designed to give you an insight into the world of

pre-modern Turkish literature, where the favoured genre was indisputably poetry, and

also into the processes of change that entered that world in the second half of the

nineteenth century. In early Anatolian Turkish poetry religious themes are dominant.

The highly sophisticated classical divan literature that developed as the Ottoman state

grew into an imperial power drew its inspiration from Persian court literature, and

specialized in lyric and panegyric poetry and versified romances. Alongside this a

vigorous tradition of popular poetry produced by itinerant âşık poets gives glimpses into

the lives and concerns of various sections of the wider population. You will also read an

example of narrative prose of an epic character. In the late nineteenth century increasing

exposure to European influences caused Turkish intellectuals to question many aspects

of their literary heritage. Included, therefore, in this paper are some examples of the new

poetry of the Servet-i Fünun group, which displays an individualism not seen before.

The examination will contain translation, commentary and essay questions. In

commentary questions on poetry you will be expected to show knowledge of the literary

conventions within which poets worked, or (in the case of the early modern texts) the

aims and concerns of particular poets.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Andrews, Walter. Poetry’s Voice, Society’s Song: Ottoman Lyric Poetry, Seattle and

London, 1985. Andrews, Walter G. and Mehmet Kalpaklı. The Age of Beloveds: Love and the Beloved in

Early Modern Ottoman and European Culture and Society. Durham and London:

Duke University Press, 2005.

Evin, Ahmet Ö. Origins and Development of the Turkish Novel, Minneapolis, 1983.

Halman, Talat Sait (ed.). Turkey: From Empire to Nation, New York, 1973. (Review of

National Literatures.) (Chapters by T.S. Halman, J.R. Walsh, and R.C. Clark.). Holbrooke, Virginia. The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic

Romance. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Ostle, Robin (ed.). Modern Literature in the Near and Middle East 1850-1970, London,

1991. (Chapters 1 and 2.)

28

Tk. 8

TURKISH LITERATURE: GENERAL QUESTIONS

COURSES: Turkish only

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Michaelmas and Hilary Terms of Year 4. 2 hours

lecture/class per week in Michaelmas Term and a total of 4 tutorials with essays.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This paper looks at Turkish literature in a broad perspective.

Major topics included within the scope of the paper are, for example, the characteristics,

genres and conventions of classical Ottoman poetry and its imaginative world, the

formal and thematic qualities of Turkish popular poetry, the origins of modern Turkish

literature, and the aims of writers and poets at different periods (tensions between

educative or social-critical aims and aesthetic ideals or individual imagination). For this

paper you will be expected to read some further works of Turkish literature on your

own, depending on your particular interests. You can also make use of English

translations where these exist. You will be expected to use a certain amount of

analytical and critical work in Turkish, as there are very few studies of modern Turkish

literature available in English.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

As for papers Tk. 6 and Tk. 7.

29

Tk. 9

TURKISH LANGUAGE REFORM AND LANGUAGE POLITICS FROM 1850

TO THE PRESENT DAY

COURSES: Turkish only

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Michaelmas Term of Year 4. 2 hours of classes per week,

and 4 tutorials.

SET TEXTS:

Agâh Sırrı Levend, Türk Dilinde Gelişme ve Sadeleşme Evreleri, 3. baskı (Ankara,

1972), pp. 117-22, 124-9, 130-4.

Ömer Seyfettin, Dil Konusunda Yazılar (Ankara, 1989), pp. 20-32.

Ziya Gökalp, Türkçülüğün Esasları, 5. basılış (Istanbul, 1963), pp. 77-84.

Mehmet Kaplan, Kültür ve Dil, 5. Baskı (İstanbul, 1988), pp. 222-5.

Ömer Asım Aksoy, Gelişen ve Özleşen Dilimiz, 2. baskı (Ankara, 1970), pp. 25-44.

Doğan Aksan, Tartışılan Sözcükler (Ankara, 1976).

Faruk K. Timurtaş, Uydurma Olan ve Olmayan Yeni Kelimeler Sözlüğü (İstanbul, n.d.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Work for this paper includes the study of a selection of texts

concerned with the issue of language reform, beginning with the writings of Ottoman

intellectuals in the 1860s and continuing through the ‘New Language’ campaign of the

Young Turk period and the radical language reform programme launched by Atatürk in

the 1930s to the highly politicized controversies of the 1960s and 1970s. In your essays

you will read more widely around the subject, and consider topics such as the changing

concerns and priorities of reformers at different periods, the complex relationship

between language reform and nationalism, and the concerns of opponents and critics of

the movement.

The examination will consist of comment and essay questions. You will be expected to

be able to discuss specific issues of reform, such as the elimination of Arabic and

Persian grammatical forms and constructions, and the means of lexical substitution,

with appropriate terminology and supporting examples. Some questions may ask you to

comment on the style of an unseen passage or passages from the point of view of

language reform issues.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Heyd, Uriel. Language Reform in Modern Turkey, Jerusalem, 1954.

Iz, Fahir. ‘Ottoman and Turkish’ in D.P. Little (ed.), Essays on Islamic Civilization

presented to Niyazi Berkes, Leiden, 1976.

Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 3rd edn., New York/Oxford, 2002.

Section ‘Script and Language’ in Ch. xii, ‘Religion and Culture’.

Lewis, Geoffrey, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, Oxford,

1999.

30

Mignon, Laurent. ‘The Literati and the Letters: A Few Words on the Turkish Alphabet

Reform’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 20/01 (2010):11-24.

Thomas, George. Linguistic Purism, London, 1991.

31

Tk. 10

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 1300-1566

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: To be announced

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Michaelmas and Hilary Terms of Year 3. (Lectures one

hour per week in Michaelmas Term. 6 tutorials spread over Michaelmas

and Hilary Terms.)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This paper introduces the history of the Ottoman state and

society from the emergence of the Ottoman principality in 1300 to its transformation

into a world empire in the sixteenth century. Topics will include: the nature of the early

Ottoman state and debates on the “gaza thesis”; the development of Ottoman provincial

and central administration; imperial ideology and the nature of sultanic authority;

religious, political and cultural influences. There will be a special emphasis on the

nature of Ottoman rule in the Arab provinces and on the place of the Ottoman Empire in

Islamic History.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Faroqhi, Suraiya. The Ottoman Empire and the World around it, New York, 2004.

Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923,

London, 2005.

Goffman, Daniel. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe, Cambridge, 2002.

Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power, New York,

2002.

Inalcık, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, translated by

Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber, London, 1989, c1973.

Kafadar, Cemal. Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State,

Berkeley, 1995.

Necipoğlu, Gülru. Architecture, Ceremonial and Power: Topkapı Palace in the

Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Cambridge, MA, 1991.

32

Tk. 11

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 1566-1807

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: To be announced

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Hilary and Trinity Terms of Year 3.

(Lectures one hour per week in both terms. 6 tutorials spread over Hilary Term and

Trinity Term.)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This paper assesses the middle period of Ottoman history, in

which the empire adjusted its political, economic and cultural practices to accommodate

a state both enlarged by the inclusion of the Arab world and challenged by financial and

military difficulties. Topics will include: the changing nature of Ottoman sovereignty

and the role of royal women; Islam and the sultanate; political and military reform;

altered relations with the West and Russia; the Ottoman impact upon Egypt; Ottoman

identity.

RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND READING

Abou-El-Haj, Rifaat Ali. Formation of the Modern State: The Ottoman Empire,

Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, Albany, 1991.

Cambridge History of Egypt, vol. 2, 1999.

Cambridge History of Turkey, vol. 3, 2006.

Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923,

London, 2005.

Murphey, Rhoads. Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700, London, 1999.

Peirce, Leslie P. The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire,

New York, 1993.

33

Tk. 12

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, 1807-1980

COURSES: Turkish only, Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: To be announced

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: 8 lectures in Hilary Term of Year 3 and 6 tutorials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: For this paper you will study the final century of the life of the

Ottoman empire, the ‘national struggle’ that followed the dismemberment of that

empire after defeat in World War One, and the development, down to the military

intervention of 1980, of the Turkish nation state that emerged under Mustafa Kemal

[Atatürk]’s leadership in 1923. Topics within the Ottoman period will include the

19thcentury modernizing reforms known as the Tanzimat, the effects on Ottoman state

and society of greatly increased political intervention and economic penetration by the

European powers, the causes and results of territorial contraction, the intellectual

renaissance accompanying the birth of the Turkish press, the new Islamic emphasis of

Abdülhamid II, and the efforts of the ‘Young Turks’ to save the empire by

constitutional government. Thereafter we shall examine how it was that the Republic of

Turkey emerged in the form that it did, the impact on state and society of the nation-

building measures of the one-party period, the transition to multi-party politics after

World War Two and the interaction between democratic development and military

intervention in the succeeding decades.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923,

London, 2005. Chapters 13-16.

Hanioğlu, M. Şükrü. A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire, Princeton/Oxford,

2008.

Lewis, Bernard. The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 3rd edn, New York/Oxford, 2002.

Mango, Andrew. Atatürk, London, 1999.

Macfie, A.L., The End of the Ottoman Empire, 1908-1923, London, 1998.

Poulton, Hugh. Top Hat, Grey Wolf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish

Republic, London, 1997.

Zürcher, Erik Jan. Turkey: A Modern History, Revised edn, London, 2004.

34

Tk. 13

TURKISH PROSE COMPOSITION AND UNPREPARED TRANSLATION

COURSES: Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: Dr Laurent Mignon, Dr Emine Çakır

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Years 3 and 4. 1 hour tutorial per week.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Prose composition is the term used at Oxford for the

translation of a passage of English prose into the language being studied. The object of

Turkish prose composition is to teach you to express specific ideas and arguments in

contemporary Turkish, precisely, grammatically, idiomatically and in a style appropriate

to the subject matter. The living experience of Turkish that you will have acquired

during your year abroad will, of course, greatly assist you in the development of your

writing skills. Unprepared translation from Turkish into English is not separately taught,

because both the technical aspects of analysing Turkish prose structure and the stylistic

issues involved in translation form constant elements of all the text reading classes

throughout the degree course. The examination will consist of one passage for

translation from English into Turkish and two passages of modern (post-1928) Turkish

for translation into English.

35

Tk. 14

OTTOMAN TEXTS (FOR TURKISH WITH ISLAMIC ART AND

ARCHAEOLOGY)

COURSES: Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: To be announced

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: All terms of Year 3, 2-3 hours of classes per week. Year 4,

Michaelmas Term, 1 hr per week of classes.

SET TEXTS:

As there are no candidates for the examination in 2014, there is no current list of set

texts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The texts for this paper are all historical in content. They

typically comprise the majority of the texts set for Tk. 4, together with the excerpt from

Mustafa Kemal’s 1927 speech set for Tk. 5, and a group of inscriptions from Ottoman

buildings.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING

Faroqhi, Suraiya. Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire,

New York, 2000.

Goffman, Daniel. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe, Cambridge, 2002.

Imber, Colin. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power, New York,

2002.

İnalcık, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, translated by

Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber, London, 1989, c1973.

Kafadar, Cemal. Between Two Worlds, The Construction of the Ottoman State,

Berkeley, 1995.

Macfie, A.L., Atatürk, London, 1994.

36

Tk. 15

MODERN TURKISH TEXTS (FOR TURKISH WITH ISLAMIC ART AND

ARCHAEOLOGY)

COURSES: Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology

TEACHING STAFF: To be announced

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Year 3 (all terms), Year 4 (Michaelmas Term); Average 1-

2 hours of classes per week.

SET TEXTS:

As there are no candidates for the examination in 2014, there is no current list of set

texts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The texts set for this paper mainly comprise a selection from

those set for Tk. 5 and Tk. 6, and fall into three broad categories: (i) selected modern

Turkish short stories; (ii) selected modern Turkish poetry; (iii) selected modern Turkish

writings on political, historical and cultural issues. This paper is designed to introduce

you to modern Turkish literature and thought, from the Young Turk period at the

beginning of the twentieth century down to recent times. The detailed class study of the

set texts makes it possible for any difficulties of comprehension to be addressed, and for

detailed attention to be paid to the ways in which the writer’s use of language - whether

in terms of stylistic choice or of narrative, poetical or rhetorical technique - contributes

to the total impact of a piece of writing. the texts in groups (i) and (ii) are analysed in

terms both of their literary qualities and of their relation to socio-political issues. Those

in group (iii) have mostly been selected as representative of significant intellectual or

cultural debates in Turkey, or as views of

the artistic and/or architectural heritage. The texts in group (iii) also serve as stylistic

models of Turkish expository (non-literary) prose writing.

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY READING:

Burrill, Kathleen. ‘Modern Turkish Literature’, in Turkey: From Empire to Nation, ed.

Talât Sait Halman, New York, 1973. (Review of National Literatures.)

Göksu, Saime and Timms. Edward, Romantic Communist: The Life and Work of Nazim

Hikmet, London, 1999.

Heper, Metin et al. (eds). Turkey and the West: Changing Political and Cultural

Identities, London, 1993. (Chapters, 4, 5, 11.) Poulton, Hugh. Top Hat, Grey Wolf and

Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic, London, 1997.

Zürcher, Erik Jan. Turkey: A Modern History, Revised edn, London, 2004.

37

Tk. 16

SPECIAL SUBJECT

COURSES: Turkish only; Turkish with a Subsidiary Language.

TEACHING STAFF: By arrangement.

WHEN TAUGHT/HOURS: Usually Year 4, Michaelmas or Hilary Terms; times and

hours by arrangement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The above courses give you the opportunity, in consultation

with your tutors and with the approval of the Faculty Board, to design your own Special

Subject. (Note: If you are reading Turkish with a Subsidiary Language, the special

subject is optional.) It is a good plan to choose your Special Subject as early as possible

and to discuss it

with your tutors in Year 1, Trinity Term, before you go abroad. You will thus be able to

begin work on your Special Subject while you are abroad, and even to design a project

of research to be completed abroad which will comprise the foundation for your Special

Subject.

Your Special Subject may be examined either as a traditional written examination

paper, or as a dissertation of not more than 15,000 words to be submitted before FHS,

no later than Friday of 10th Week of Hilary Term, Year 4. (See Appendix I for full

details on dissertations). Formal approval for your Special Subject must be obtained

from the Faculty Board. Application has to be made by Monday of 2nd Week of

Michaelmas Term in Year 4. The relevant form can be downloaded from

http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/html/general/exams.html (click on “FHS Exams Application

for Approval Form”). This has to be countersigned by the tutor who is going to be

teaching the Special Subject or supervising the dissertation.

38

TEACHING STAFF

The following list gives the Faculty and College affiliations, rooms, (internal) telephone

numbers, and email addresses of most of the members of the Faculty who teach Islamic

Studies. Messages can also be left in the pigeonholes in the foyer of the Institute.

Mr Mohammedjavad Ardalan, Instructor in Persian. Oriental Institute, Room 205. Tel

(2)88217; Email ardalan111@gmail.com

Mr Talal al-Azem, Early Career Fellow in Arabic/Islamic History. Room 320,

Wellington Square; Tel: (2)78237

Professor James Allan, Professor of Eastern Art. (retired) Khalili Research Centre, St

John’s Street. Tel: (2)88355; Email: james.allan@stx.ox.ac.uk

Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi (St Antony’s). Middle East Centre. Tel: (2)84738

Dr Walter Armbrust, University Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern Studies (St

Antony’s). Middle East Centre, St Antony’s. Tel: (2)74471; Email:

walter.armbrust@sant.ox.ac.uk

Dr Emine Çakır , Instructor in Turkish, ; Room 212, Email:

emine.cakir@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Professor Geert Jan van Gelder, Laudian Professor of Arabic (St John’s, retired). Email:

gerard.vangelder@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Julian Faultless: Faculty Tutor, Arabic. Email: julian.faultless@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Otared Haidar, Instructor in Arabic, Oriental Institute, Room 112. Tel: (2)78191;

Email: otared.haidar@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Professor Edmund Herzig, Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies (Wadham). Oriental

Institute, Room 214. Tel: (2)78234; Email: edmund.herzig@orinst.ox.ac.uk (On

leave 2012/13)

Professor Clive Holes, Khalid Bin Abdullah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the

Contemporary Arab World (Magdalen). Oriental Institute, Room 101. Tel:

(2)78239; Email: clive.holes@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Professor Robert Hoyland, University Lecturer in Islamic History (St Cross: Sabbatical

leave 2012-13). Oriental Institute, Room 107 Tel. (2)78216; Email:

robert.hoyland@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Domenico Ingenito, Departmental Lecturer in Persian; Oriental Institute, Room 203;

Tel: (2)78233; Email: domenico.ingenito@orinst.ox.ac.uk

mailto:ardalan111@gmail.commailto:james.allan@stx.ox.ac.ukmailto:walter.armbrust@sant.ox.ac.ukmailto:emine.cakir@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:gerard.vangelder@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:julian.faultless@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:otared.haidar@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:edmund.herzig@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:clive.holes@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:robert.hoyland@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:domenico.ingenito@orinst.ox.ac.uk

39

Dr Lamia Jamal Aldin, OCIS Instructor in Modern Arabic, Email:

lamia.jamalaldin@oxcis.ac.uk

Dr Nadia Jamil, Senior Instructor in Classical and Modern Arabic. Oriental Institute,

Room 212. Tel: (2) 78219; Email: nadia.jamil@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Professor Jeremy Johns, University Lecturer in Islamic Archaeology (Wolfson). Khalili

Research Centre, St John Street. Tel: (2)78198; Email:

jeremy.johns@orinst.ox.ac.uk.

Dr Tajalsir Kandoura, Instructor in Arabic. Oriental Institute, Room 202. Tel: (2)

78196; Email: taj.kandoura@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Homa Katouzian, Iran Heritage Foundation Research Fellow (St Antony’s). Middle

East Centre. Tel: (2)84757; Email: homa.katouzian@sant.ox.ac.uk

Dr Celia Kerslake, University Lecturer in Turkish (retired). Email:

celia.kerslake@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Christopher Melchert, University Lecturer in Arabic and Islam (Pembroke). Oriental

Institute, Room 103; Tel. (2)78211; Email: christopher.melchert@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Laurent Mignon, University Lecturer in Turkish. Oriental Institute, Room 106. Tel:

(2)78213; Email: laurent.mignon@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Mr Ronald Nettler, University Research Lecturer in Oriental Studies (Mansfield)

[retired]. Email: ronald.nettler@mansfield.oxford.ac.uk

Dr Sima Orsini, Instructor in Persian. Oriental Institute, Room 205. Tel (2)88217;

Email: sima.orsini@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Mohamed-Salah Omri, University Lecturer in Modern Arabic Language and

Literature (St John’s). Oriental Institute, Room 104. Tel: (2)78221; Email:

mohamed-salah.omri@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Judith Pfeiffer, University Lecturer in Arabic (St Cross: on leave), Oriental Institute,

Room 105. Tel: (2)78237; Email: judith.pfeiffer@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Philip Robins, University Lecturer in the Politics of the Middle East. (St Antony’s).

Middle East Centre. Tel:(2)74472; Email: philip.robins@sant.ox.ac.uk

Dr Eugene Rogan, University Lecturer in the Modern History of the Middle East (St

Antony’s). Middle East Centre. Tel: (2)84773; Email:

eugene.rogan@orinst.ox.ac.uk (on sabbatical leave: refer to Dr Adam Mestyan,

Departmental Lecturer in the Modern History of the Middle East; Email:

adam.mestyan@orinst.ox.ac.uk )

mailto:lamia.jamalaldin@oxcis.ac.ukmailto:jeremy.johns@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:taj.kandoura@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:homa.katouzian@sant.ox.ac.ukmailto:celia.kerslake@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:christopher.melchert@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:laurent.mignon@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:ronald.nettler@mansfield.oxford.ac.ukmailto:sima.orsini@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:mohamed-salah.omri@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:judith.pfeiffer@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:philip.robins@sant.ox.ac.ukmailto:eugene.rogan@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:adam.mestyan@orinst.ox.ac.uk

40

Dr Najah Shamaa, Faculty Tutor in Arabic. Oriental Institute, Email:

najah.shamaa@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Nicolai Sinai, Shaikh Zayed University Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Oriental

Institute, Room 209; Tel: (2) 78293; Email: nicolai.sinai@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Luke Treadwell, Samir Shamma Lecturer in Islamic Numismatics (St Cross). Khalili

Research Centre, St John Street. Tel: (2)78209; Email:

luke.treadwell@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Elizabeth Tucker (Wolfson). Email: elizabeth.tucker@wolfson.ox.ac.uk

Dr Zeynep Yürekli-Görkay, University Lecturer in Islamic Art and Architecture, KRC.

Tel: (2) 78226. Email: zeynep.yurekli-gorkay@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Dr Michael Willis, H.M. King Mohammed VI Fellow in Moroccan and Mediterranean

Studies (St Antony’s). Middle East Centre. Tel: (2)84753; Email:

michael.willis@sant.ox.ac.uk

mailto:najah.shamaa@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:nicolai.sinai@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:luke.treadwell@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:elizabeth.tucker@wolfson.ox.ac.ukmailto:zeynep.yurekli-gorkay@orinst.ox.ac.ukmailto:michael.willis@sant.ox.ac.uk

41

APPENDIX I

Final Honour School in Oriental Studies (Islamic Studies courses)

GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS OF DISSERTATIONS AND THESES

Status of the thesis within the degree course

If you are reading for a degree in Turkish only, you may decide to be examined for your

Special Subject (Tk. 16) in the form of a dissertation. If you are reading for a degree in

Turkish with a Subsidiary Language, the same applies to the optional Special Subject

that you may choose to take in addition to your prescribed nine examination papers. If

you are reading for a degree in Turkish with Islamic Art and Archaeology, you have to

write a thesis (the term is identical in meaning to ‘dissertation’) as a compulsory part of

your FHS requirements.

It is imperative to recognize that the writing of a thesis involves quite as much work as

for a paper, and that the work differs from conventional study in shape and demand. The

subject of your thesis may, but need not, overlap with a subject or period covered by

one or more of your other papers, but you must not repeat material used in your thesis in

any of your papers, and you will not be given credit for material extensively repeated.

Key dates

All dissertation and thesis topics have to receive prior approval from the Faculty Board.

There is a form for applying for this approval, which is available on the faculty website.

Go to http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/html/general/exams.html and click on “FHS Exams

Application for Approval Form”. This has to be countersigned by the tutor who is going

to be supervising the thesis.

The date by which the application must be submitted is Monday of Week 2 of

Michaelmas Term in your fourth year.

Your completed dissertation/thesis has to be submitted to the Chairman of Examiners,

Honour School of Oriental Studies, c/o Clerk of the Schools, Examination Schools,

High Street, Oxford, no later than 12 noon on Friday of Week 10 of Hilary Term of

your fourth year. We also ask students voluntarily to submit a copy of their

dissertation on disk (preferably in pdf). Remember to write your candidate number and

not your name on the dissertation you submit.

Planning and Choice of Topic

You should discuss the topic of your thesis in the first instance with the Tutorial

Secretary. If the Tutorial Secretary does not feel qualified to give detailed advice he or

she will put you in touch with someone suitable to supervise a thesis in the chosen area.

You should do so as early as possible. Trinity Term, Year 1 is probably the best time for

preliminary discussions. In no case should you leave the choice of a subject for your

thesis later than the beginning of Michaelmas Term, Year 3.

42

The Supervisor’s Role

The supervisor of your thesis will assist in the choice of a topic and give initial advice

on relevant sources and methods. He or she will advise on sources and presentation and

assist with bibliographical advice; he or she will certainly expect to read draft chapters

or sections. He or she may, but will not necessarily, read and comment on a complete

first draft. But a thesis must be your own work. That is its challenge and its justification.

Candidates must certify on submitting the thesis that it is indeed their own work, and

supervisors have to countersign this certificate (which must also state that the thesis has

not previously been submitted, in whole or part, for another Final Honour School or

other degree in Oxford or elsewhere).

Theses - Good and Indifferent

The hallmark of a good thesis is that it contains a consecutive argument or set of

arguments on its topic. Apart from showing a sound grasp of the secondary literature on

the subject and/or period and an awareness of the problems of the topic, you should

deploy the evidence of the sources to support the elements in your general argument. It

should be made clear how you have approached the subject, what conclusions you have

reached and, if appropriate, how your approach and conclusions are related to the views

of other scholars.

The work should be well-written and properly presented, with footnote references in

orderly, consistent and unfussy shape and a sensibly-selected bibliography. Good

presentation, in the experience of many examiners, is usually combined with high

quality of analysis. Conversely, careless or unclear writing, uncorrected mis-spellings,

typing errors and plain misquotations often go with an uncertain or myopic focus on the

subject.

Authors sometimes become so interested in their topic that they overlook the need to

provide at least a brief introduction to it and to set it in its broader historical context or

contexts. (An introductory section to a thesis may often usefully include a survey of the

existing literature on a topic and ‘pointers’ to its particular interest and problems.)

While reading and research are being carried out, you should also be planning how to

shape materials into an argument. Research, while sometimes frustrating, is intensely

stimulating; it can also become a beguiling end in itself. Laboriously collected materials

are worthless unless they contribute to a coherent argument. For this reason, you should

begin to plan the structure of your argument as early as possible; some plans may need

to be discarded until the most feasible one has been found.

It is a reasonable assumption that writing the thesis will take longer than expected: a

good thesis will certainly require more than one draft of parts if not of the whole. Plenty

of time should be allowed for getting the final typed version into presentable form

without disrupting work for other papers or revision.

43

You should remember that the thesis counts as one finals paper and one paper only. You

should organise your time with this fact clearly in mind.

Format of the Thesis

(a) Length

Your thesis should not exceed 15,000 words, including text and notes but

excluding appendices and bibliography (see below). As a rough guide, 15,000

words, double-spaced on A4 paper, with 12-point type, will normally comprise

45-50 sides.

(b) Pagination

Pagination should run consecutively from beginning to end and include any

appendices etc. Cross references should be to pages and not simply to any

sectional divisions.

(c) Order of Contents

After the title-page there should normally be:

(i) A table of contents, showing, in sequence, with page numbers, the

subdivisions of the thesis. Titles of chapters and appendices should be

given; titles of subsections of chapters may be given.

(ii) A list of abbreviations, cue-titles, symbols etc.

(iii) A brief introduction in which the examiners’ attention is drawn to the aims

and broad argument(s) of the work, and in which any relevant points about

sources and obligations to the work of other scholars are made.

(iv) The thesis itself, divided into chapters. The chapters should have clear

descriptive titles.

(v) A conclusion, consisting of a few hundred words which summarize the

findings and briefly explore their implications.

(vi) Any appendices (which are likely not to count towards the word limit, see

below)

(vii) A bibliography. This is essential, and should be sensibly selective, omitting

nothing which has been important in the production of the thesis. Works

which are not specifically mentioned in the text may be included, but it is

not necessary to include everything that may have been read or consulted.

Works should be listed alphabetically by surname of author.

(d) Footnotes, references, and bibliography

Footnotes (except for references) should be as few and as brief as possible: they

count towards the overall word-limit. The practice of putting into footnotes

44

information which cannot be digested in the text should be avoided. Notes should

be printed, single-spaced, in 12-point type, at the foot of the page. Footnote

numbers should be superscript (not bracketed) and run in a continuous sequence

through each chapter. In subject areas where standard abbreviations for much-

quoted books and periodicals are in common use, these abbreviations may be

employed in text, footnotes, or bibliography; they should be listed separately after

the table of contents. When reference is given for a quotation or for a viewpoint or

item of information, it must be precise. But judgment needs to be exercised as to

when reference is required: statements of fact which no reader would question do

not need to be supported by references.

It is recommended that references be given in footnotes by means of author’s

name and/or full or abbreviated title. For example: ‘Beeston, Arabic Language,

72’ or ‘Beeston (1970), 72’. All works referred to in this way must be listed in full

at the end of the text in alphabetical order by author’s name. Your bibliography

might take the following form; you do not have to follow exactly this format, but

whichever you do adopt must be equally clear, precise and consistent.

(i) Books

Beeston, A.F.L., The Arabic Language Today, London, 1970.

or

Beeston, A.F.L (1970), The Arabic Language Today, London.

(ii) Contributions to Books

Beeston, A.F.L, ‘Background topics’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M. Johnstone,

R.B. Serjeant, and G.R. Smith (eds), Arabic Literature to the End of the

Umayyad Period, Cambridge, 1983, pp. 1-26.

or

Beeston, A.F.L. (1983), ‘Background topics’, in A.F.L. Beeston, T.M.

Johnstone, R.B. Serjeant, and G.R. Smith (eds), Arabic Literature to the

End of the Umayyad Period, Cambridge, pp. 1-26.

(iii) Journal Articles

Beeston, A.F.L., ‘A Sabean penal law’, Le Muséon 64 (1951) : 7-l5.

or

Beeston, A.F.L. (1951), ‘A Sabean penal law’, Le Muséon 64:7