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The history department’s studies are currently directed by Philippe Bourmaud (IFEA). This research group also includes several IFEA associate researchers and doctoral students:
The History research group aims to bring together works covering a broad period, from the Byzantine era to the early decades of the Turkish Republic. Particular emphasis is placed on the trans-Area dimension in order to understand the space of Asia Minor in its relations with the surrounding world, notably the Balkans, Iran, the Arab world, and the Caucasus.
Thus, historical studies at the IFEA are organized into thematic areas that overlap, intersect, and complement each other:
The research aims to analyze the missionary phenomenon as a catalyst for the formation and transformation of multiple social and cultural fields within empires, in competition with, and in shared perspectives with, or even in collaboration with, the empires. The period from the final decades of the Ottoman Empire to the 1950s is crucial here, as it is marked both by an intensification of missionary activities within the empires and by the construction of nation-states in opposition to the foreignness, or even the “cultural imperialism,” embodied by the missions. While the Ottoman Empire saw a proliferation of missionary foundations in its later years, Republican Turkey adopted an exclusive policy towards them. Anatolian missions relocated to the Arab Levant were forced to work in concert with the colonial state but also to distinguish themselves in order to survive independence. Heritage and social reform—and, among the latter’s manifestations, humanitarian action—add complexity to this picture, revealing the lasting impact of missionary operations long after their departure.
Three aspects are considered in this research:
The aim of this research project is to analyze the role of Jews and Muslims, subjects of the Russian Empire or under its protectorate, in Russian political actions in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire (primarily Palestine and Syria). It will examine the negotiation strategies employed by Jews and Muslims, whether pilgrims or migrants, in the Sultan’s “well-protected domains,” with the Russian and European diplomatic corps and with Ottoman authorities, both local and central.
This research examines the history of two urban societies in the eastern Ottoman Empire, Diyarbakir and Mamuret-ul-Aziz, through the lens of the missionary and consular actors who resided and operated there between the 1870s and 1914. The second half of the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire was a period of intense transformation, as it constituted both a time of redefining the Ottoman social contract (the Tanzimat reforms) and a time of the apogee of European imperialism within the Ottoman Empire. In the eastern Ottoman Empire, this period was marked by interfaith polarization and escalating tensions that culminated in extreme violence, of which the Armenian population was the victim. From the mid-19th century to the First World War, Catholic (Italian and French) and Protestant (American) missionaries, as well as French, British, and American consuls, were appointed and resided in Diyarbakir and Mamuret-ul-Aziz. Although few in number—unlike the vast foreign “colonies” in the Levantine cities—these foreigners nonetheless played an influential role, occupying a pivotal position at the interface between power and society. The educational and charitable institutions they established, along with the protectionist policies—primarily aimed at benefiting the local Armenian and Syriac Christians (around a third of the urban population)—constituted vectors of influence whose study is essential for a nuanced understanding of the social and political transformations that took place in the two cities and their hinterland.
This thesis examines the emergence, uses, and meanings of the concept of constitution within the Beylik of Tunis, Egypt, and Bilād al-Šām, the “Arab provinces” of the Ottoman Empire, during the “long 19th century.” This period is characterized by the adoption of the first constitutions within these provinces (thus reflecting a global trend), but also by the development of a body of constitutional literature through which intellectuals in these provinces sought to define the constitution, bring it to the forefront of discussions, and justify its existence. This thesis proposes to analyze this literature, drawing on a corpus of writings (political treatises, press articles, memoirs, essays, addresses to the sovereign, travelogues) by intellectuals from these provinces, and inspired by Reinhart Koselleck’s (1923-2006) Begriffsgeschichte.
In three parts, the thesis first examines the historical conditions of the emergence and formulation of constitutional thought in these contexts, using a multi-scalar approach that combines provincial, imperial, and international perspectives. It then offers a substantial analysis of the concept of constitution in this literature, revealing its semantic spectrum at a time when its meaning was not yet fixed by usage and the passage of time. Finally, it approaches this concept as a mirror of an endogenous political modernity, reflecting the historical consciousness of these intellectuals. Contrary to a diffusionist reading that describes the constitution as a passively received European conceptual export, these thinkers appear not as mere recipients or conduits, but as politically and epistemologically engaged actors in the construction of this concept. Their writings reveal the polyphonic formulation of a thought woven from shared concerns, imaginaries, and references, grounded in an interest in European and extra-European history and current political events, and the semantic reinvestment of rediscovered notions.
This program examines the history of constitutionalism as a major intellectual and political movement in the Ottoman and Qajar empires (ca. 1830s to the First World War). This project primarily aims to analyze how the idea of a parliamentary and constitutionalist regime entailed rethinking politics, the state, and society; to discuss the nature and significance of opposition to constitutionalism; to gain a better understanding of the networks promoting constitutionalism and their agendas; and to examine the challenges faced by political actors and structures once the constitutional rule was established.
Our project demonstrates that constitutionalism had different dimensions: it allowed for discussions of power structures at the regional and/or municipal level, as well as the development of agendas for shaping politics at the national level. This dynamic depended not only on Western thought but also this project fosters intellectual exchange within a vast area encompassing Iran and the Ottoman Empire, demonstrating an organic engagement with Western philosophy, Islamic political thought, and international political and intellectual developments.
Since 2018, this project has centered on the organization of regular colloquia, conferences, and research seminars in collaboration with various institutional partners, most notably the Orient-Institut Istanbul.
To our knowledge, the conference held at the IFEA in January 2020 brought together, for the first time, specialists in Iranian and Ottoman history to present their work and discuss the differences in the development of the constitutionalist process in Iran, the Balkans, Anatolia, the Caucasus, and the Arab world:
As part of the history seminar series, several presentations also focused on the history of political ideas in the Ottoman Empire during the long 19th century. The proceedings of the second colloquium, edited by Denis Hermann and Erdal Kaynar, are currently being prepared.
This project, whose activities within the IFEA are led by Philippe Bourmaud, involves, among its former IFEA doctoral and master’s researchers hosted by the Institute: Armand Aupiais-L’Homme, Gabriel Doyle, and Aude Aylin de Tapia. The program aims to study, primarily from a historical perspective, how Christian missions contributed, not from above but on a daily basis, to the socio-cultural transformation of societies in the Middle East, from Egypt to Anatolia; and also how establishing a presence in the Middle East contributed to transforming conceptions of mission.
Among the program activities involving the IFEA or its member and associate researchers are: the workshop “Missionaries as Experts,” co-organized with the OII on October 26 and 27, 2018 (coordination: Philippe Bourmaud, Aylin de Tapia, Armand Aupiais-L’Homme); and the workshop “Cultural Diplomacy, Aesthetics and Missions in the Middle East, 19th-20th Centuries,” World Congress for Middle East Studies, University of Seville, July 20, 2018.
One of the ongoing research directions, since 2016, is the exploration of the relationship between missionary activity and social change at the regional level. Following the symposium on missionary preaching in the Middle East held in Rome in October 2020, in which the IFEA participated (https://ifpo.hypotheses.org/7523), this exploration was extended to all religious actors whose modus operandi, regardless of religion, can be described as missionary.
An extension of the program was submitted to partner institutions at the end of 2020, on the theme “’The Gospel of Goodness’: Christian Networks, Charity, and Development in the Middle East (1897 to the Present).” At the same time, an ANR (French National Research Agency) project was submitted under the title “Grammars of Preaching: Model, Cartography, Materiality Middle East/Europe (19th-21st Centuries).”
The MisSMO program will participate in the GIS Middle East and Muslim Worlds Congress (Aix-en-Provence, June 28-30, 2021) in the form of a workshop led by Marie Levant (“The Vatican in the Middle East, from the First World War to the Gulf War: A Religious, Humanitarian, and Diplomatic Power”) and the participation of several program members in the workshop “Non-Muslim Communities and Their Role in the Production of Institutions in the Levant, 1920-1950” (coord. Viktorya Abrahamyan).
Since 2019, this project has focused on organizing colloquia, conferences, roundtables, and research seminars:
This project explores new perspectives on the interpretation of privateering in the 16th century. It examines privateering as a global phenomenon that, at the dawn of the modern era, saw European and Muslim ships clash from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. It focuses on two regions that played a key role in the Franco-Ottoman strategy to seize control of Italy: Provence, particularly Toulon, where the Ottoman corsair fleet was repeatedly sheltered in the 16th century, and Calabria, one of the regions of the Kingdom of Naples (1282–1806) most vulnerable to corsair raids. Provence, Calabria, the Ottoman world, and the Indian Ocean have rarely been studied as interconnected spaces in the modern period. The establishment of an international and multidisciplinary network will foster unprecedented synergy among specialists from different geographical areas. Conferences and study days will be organized as part of this project.
Commerce Raiding and Transnational Hegemonies: the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the Early Modern Period
This project explores new perspectives on how to interpret corsairs’ raids in the 16th century. It looks at commerce raiding as a global phenomenon which, at the beginning of the modern period, sees European and Muslim fleets confront each other from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. It looks at two regions which play a key role in the Franco-Ottoman strategy to annex Italy: Provence, in particular the city of Toulon, where the fleet of the Ottoman corsairs is sheltered on several occasions during the 16th century, and Calabria, the region of the kingdom of Naples (1282-1806) which for its geographical location was one of the most exposed to corsairs’ raids. Provence, Calabria, the Ottoman world, and the Indian Ocean have rarely been studied as connected environments in the modern period. The creation of an international and multidisciplinary network will allow for unprecedented synergy between scholars from different geographical areas.
Seminars
The History research group also organizes internal seminars for its members, primarily aimed at presenting ongoing research. These seminars are specifically designed to support the work of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers within the group in their research in Turkey and at the IFEA (French Institute for Advanced Study).
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, conferences have also been regularly organized online since September 2020, and subsequently in a hybrid format.
Conferences and other scholarly events
Beyond its research areas, the history department also hosts various scholarly events for which the IFEA is a partner and whose themes fall within the history department. Thus, since the beginning of 2019, the IFEA has organized the following conferences at its premises:
‘Arab Historiographies’ on June 14, 2019.
‘The Sacred Heritage of Sufism: Architecture, Objects and Symbols from the Maghreb to Asia’ on October 17-18, 2019.
‘The Dance of the Volcano: Occupied Istanbul 1918-1923’ on November 14-15, 2019.