You Say ‘Classical,’ I Say ‘Imperial,’ Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off: Empire, Individual, And Encounter In Travel Narratives Of The Ottoman Empire

Abstract

Travelers classified people by gender, ethnolinguistic identity, occupation, commune, locality, age, status, and association with the “state” or the narrator’s own network of associates (or both). That is, an individual was identified by whom he or she knew, the point(s) of contact to the narrator. As with all migrants, travelers encountered Ottoman individuals based in part on that network of contacts (at home and abroad), and in part on their chosen paths of travel (counted in terms of places and persons experienced).