Roxolana in European Literature, History and CultureGalina I. Yermolenko This collection is the first book-length scholarly study of the pervasiveness and significance of Roxolana in the European imagination. Roxolana, or "Hurrem Sultan," was a sixteenth-century Ukrainian woman who made an unprecedented career from harem slave and concubine to legal wife and advisor of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). Her influence on Ottoman affairs generated legends in many a European country. The essays gathered here represent an interdisciplinary survey of her legacy; the contributors view Roxolana as a transnational figure that reflected the shifting European attitudes towards "the Other," and they investigate her image in a wide variety of sources, ranging from early modern historical chronicles, dramas and travel writings, to twentieth-century historical novels and plays. Also included are six European source texts featuring Roxolana, here translated into modern English for the first time. Importantly, this collection examines Roxolana from both Western and Eastern European perspectives; source material is taken from England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Poland, and Ukraine. The volume is an important contribution to the study of early modern transnationalism, cross-cultural exchange, and notions of identity, the Self, and the Other. |
From inside the book
Page 2
... concubine (hasseki), having ousted from that position the beautiful Circassian concubine mahidevran (Gulbahar, Gulbehar, or Gulfrem, in other sources),5 the mother of Suleiman's first-born son Mustafa. in 1520, suleiman ascended the ...
... concubine (hasseki), having ousted from that position the beautiful Circassian concubine mahidevran (Gulbahar, Gulbehar, or Gulfrem, in other sources),5 the mother of Suleiman's first-born son Mustafa. in 1520, suleiman ascended the ...
Page 4
... concubines. it may have also been her ability to produce male heirs for the sultan that gave her that extra power. But most probably it was her intelligence and a gift for political intrigue that gave her the advantage over other women ...
... concubines. it may have also been her ability to produce male heirs for the sultan that gave her that extra power. But most probably it was her intelligence and a gift for political intrigue that gave her the advantage over other women ...
Page 5
... concubine and mother of his children. She served as his intimate confidante. When the sultan was absent from the capital on his numerous, almost annual, war campaigns, Hurrem informed him of daily events in their family, the royal court ...
... concubine and mother of his children. She served as his intimate confidante. When the sultan was absent from the capital on his numerous, almost annual, war campaigns, Hurrem informed him of daily events in their family, the royal court ...
Page 7
... concubines in his harem, arguing that their unused beauty was being wasted away. traditionally, those concubines who did ... concubine was to remain in the harem only until her son came of age (around 16 years old or so), after which he ...
... concubines in his harem, arguing that their unused beauty was being wasted away. traditionally, those concubines who did ... concubine was to remain in the harem only until her son came of age (around 16 years old or so), after which he ...
Page 8
... concubines—his favorite (a sexual role) and the mother of the prince (a post-sexual role)—were separated, the separation made at the moment when the woman left the harem to follow her adult son to a province. in Hurrem, however, “these ...
... concubines—his favorite (a sexual role) and the mother of the prince (a post-sexual role)—were separated, the separation made at the moment when the woman left the harem to follow her adult son to a province. in Hurrem, however, “these ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
Part 2 Translations | 165 |
Appendix 1 Plot Summaries | 255 |
Appendix 2 Names | 271 |
Appendix 3 Chronology | 275 |
Bibliography | 277 |
Index | 301 |
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Common terms and phrases
acmat aluante Baykal beautiful Béhar Bess Bess’s Boyle’s captives century Chapter character Christian Christian Felix Weisse Cihangir CiRCassa concubine court death despina drama dumas early modern English European Fair Maid father Fatima fear female French Gayri Resmi Hurrem German Ghiselin de Busbecq Giangir Grand Vizier haseki Haugwitz heart Heywood’s honor Hurrem Sultan Ibrahim Bassa Imperial Harem Isabelle istanbul Kanuni king king’s kolomyia kyiv lessing’s literary literature lohenstein lviv mahidevran marusia marusia Bohuslavka mufti mullisheg mustafa mustapha novel Ogier Ghiselin oriental ottoman Empire palace pasha passion peirce play plot polish polish-lithuanian Commonwealth political prince Queen Roksoliana Rosa Roxelane Roxolana Rüstam Rustan scene sElim sexual slave soliman story suleiman Süleyman the Magnificent Sultan ile Söyleşi Sultan Süleyman tatar tells texts throne titian tota tragedy translation turkish Turkish Letters turks ukraine ukrainian university press valide sultan Venetian vols Vynnychuk Western wife woman women yula’s Zeangir