XIX. Yüzyıl Sonu İstanbulu’nda Batılı Tüketici Ürünlerinin Dolaşıma Girdikleri Kanallar ve Yarattıkları Hareketlenmeler: Şark Ticaret Yıllıkları Üzerinden Bir Araştırma

Abstract

This study examines historical cases thatillustrate various encounters between Westerngoods and Istanbulites between 1881-1914.Through the micro-analysis of OrientalDirectories, it aims to identify the channelsthat facilitated circulation of Western goodsin the market, and to understand how thesegoods transformed practices of producers,merchants and store owners.The studied period showcases all theconflicts, negotiations and transformationsthat were brought by the intensive process ofthe Ottoman state’s integration with the Westand world economy. During this period, as aport city that had been going througheconomic, social and urban re-configuration,Istanbul, hosted a richness of production,trade and sales activities.In literature, the influx of “Western goods”into the Ottoman market is characterized as“invasion”. The term “Western goods”,which is used in reference to all imaginableWestern materials and products that floodedthe market, is erosive as much as it isinclusive: Its inclusivity creates a generalunderstanding, yet blurs the singularities thatawait in the mist to be traced.Oriental Directories offer a vast array ofsingular stories of manufacture, trade,marketing, display and repair of Westerngoods. Among thousands of entries in thesedirectories, many lead to cases that suggesthow producers, merchants and storeownersconfigured their professional practices withthe influence of Western goods and illustratecounter-scenarios to the mainstream “demiseafter invasion”.