The Proper Order of Things

Language, Power, and Law in Ottoman Administrative Discourses

Nonfiction, History, Middle East
Cover of the book The Proper Order of Things by Heather L. Ferguson, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Heather L. Ferguson ISBN: 9781503605534
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: June 12, 2018
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Heather L. Ferguson
ISBN: 9781503605534
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: June 12, 2018
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

The "natural order of the state" was an early modern mania for the Ottoman Empire. In a time of profound and pervasive imperial transformation, the ideals of stability, proper order, and social harmony were integral to the legitimization of Ottoman power. And as Ottoman territory grew, so too did its network of written texts: a web of sultanic edicts, aimed at defining and supplementing imperial authority in the empire's disparate provinces. With this book, Heather L. Ferguson studies how this textual empire created a unique vision of Ottoman legal and social order, and how the Ottoman ruling elite, via sword and pen, articulated a claim to universal sovereignty that subverted internal challengers and external rivals.

The Proper Order of Things offers the story of an empire, at once familiar and strange, told through the shifting written vocabularies of power deployed by the Ottomans in their quest to thrive within a competitive early modern environment. Ferguson transcends the question of what these documents said, revealing instead how their formulation of the "proper order of things" configured the state itself. Through this textual authority, she argues, Ottoman writers ensured the durability of their empire, creating the principles of organization on which Ottoman statecraft and authority came to rest.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The "natural order of the state" was an early modern mania for the Ottoman Empire. In a time of profound and pervasive imperial transformation, the ideals of stability, proper order, and social harmony were integral to the legitimization of Ottoman power. And as Ottoman territory grew, so too did its network of written texts: a web of sultanic edicts, aimed at defining and supplementing imperial authority in the empire's disparate provinces. With this book, Heather L. Ferguson studies how this textual empire created a unique vision of Ottoman legal and social order, and how the Ottoman ruling elite, via sword and pen, articulated a claim to universal sovereignty that subverted internal challengers and external rivals.

The Proper Order of Things offers the story of an empire, at once familiar and strange, told through the shifting written vocabularies of power deployed by the Ottomans in their quest to thrive within a competitive early modern environment. Ferguson transcends the question of what these documents said, revealing instead how their formulation of the "proper order of things" configured the state itself. Through this textual authority, she argues, Ottoman writers ensured the durability of their empire, creating the principles of organization on which Ottoman statecraft and authority came to rest.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book The Holocaust in Italian Culture, 1944–2010 by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Forging a Multinational State by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Our Word Is Our Bond by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Stolen Honor by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Watching War by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book The Permanent Tax Revolt by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Schooling and Work in the Democratic State by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book British State Romanticism by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Soundtrack of the Revolution by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Risen from Ruins by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Back Stories by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book The Collected Letters of Robinson Jeffers, with Selected Letters of Una Jeffers by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Twilight of the Mission Frontier by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Live and Die Like a Man by Heather L. Ferguson
Cover of the book Innovation and Scaling for Impact by Heather L. Ferguson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy