Elena Panayi (University of Cyprus)
Ottoman female poets and mystical orders: Elements of interaction in Ottoman divan poetry

Due to the fact that Ottoman women were generally excluded from public life, the source material that we can find on Ottoman female poets is quite limited. The main source for the lives and works of Ottoman female poets are the biographical dictionaries of poets (tezkire). Through them, we know about the lives of about fifty female poets, of whom most lived during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The project focuses on eight Ottoman female gazel poets of the 18th and 19th centuries – Sıdki Hanım (Bayramı, d. 1703), Tevhide Hanım (Mevlevi, d. 1847), Leyla Hanım (Mevlevi, d. 1848), Şeref Hanım (Kadiri / Mevlevi, 1809–1861), Sırrı Hanım (Kadiri, 1814–1877), Adile Sultan (Nakşibendi, 1826–1899), Feride Hanım (Şa’bani, 1837–1903) and Hatice Nakiye Hanım (Mevlevi, 1845–1879) – who were all members of one or more mystical orders. Based on a detailed study of the biographies and works of these poets, the study intends to find answers to the following questions: How was the interaction between these poets and their orders? Was their poetry influenced by their membership in the mystical orders, and if yes, how? Were women in the male dominated and highly stereotypic Ottoman poetry tradition able to give a female voice to their texts?