The Lügat of İstanbul: Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s re-animation of an urban past

Abstract

This article focuses on an alphabetically ordered collection titled The L & uuml;gat of & Idot;stanbul Fifty Years Ago, published in 1942 by the prolific Turkish historian and writer Re & scedil;ad Ekrem Ko & ccedil;u. Despite its rich and lesser-known descriptions and stories of & Idot;stanbul's historical spaces, people, and events in each entry with anecdotes, quotes, and comments, the L & uuml;gat has remained relatively unknown. Ko & ccedil;u drew on the memoirs and journalistic essays of Turkish journalist Ahmed Rasim, who vividly captured the essence of the city in his writings during the 1890s. This article examines Ko & ccedil;u's endeavor to establish a methodology for urban historiography by rearranging and re-animating the depictions of the mundane urban past in a new encyclopedic genre, L & uuml;gat, while placing it within the wider framework of urban history literature in & Idot;stanbul. Through a critical analysis of the narratives portraying the perils and pleasures of & Idot;stanbul in the L & uuml;gat, this article illustrates how Ko & ccedil;u's classifications are intertwined with subjective interpretations rather than rational objectifications.