Asst. Prof. Jülide ERKEN,
a faculty member at Fenerbahçe University Turkish Language Teaching Application
and Research Center (FBÜTÖMER), participated as a speaker in the “Literature in
Ottoman Europe, 1400–1800 Symposium,” held in Skopje on September 4–6, 2026.
Organized by the Balkan
Studies Foundation with the support of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination
Agency (TİKA) and Yunus Emre Institute, the symposium brought together
academics from various universities to explore the literary and cultural heritage
of Ottoman Europe.
On September 5, 2026,
Asst. Prof. Jülide ERKEN presented her paper entitled “The Quest for Patronage
as Reflected in the Poetry of Poets of Balkan Origin” during the session
“Within Literary Networks: Poets and Patronage,” chaired by Prof. Dr. Selami
TURAN.
In her presentation,
ERKEN examined the quest for patronage among poets in Ottoman literature and
how the difficulties they encountered in this process were reflected in their
poetry. Focusing on poets born in different cities across the Balkans, a region
that remained under Ottoman rule for approximately 500 years, she analyzed the
poems of Mesîhî (d. 1512), İshâk Çelebi of Skopje (d. 1538), Muîdî of Tetovo
(d. 1546/1568–69), Hasan Ziyâî of Mostar (d. 1584), and Sâbit (d. 1712) within
the framework of patron–poet relationships. The study explored how poets
expressed the loss of their patrons, their fall from favor for various reasons,
and the difficulties they faced in gaining access to literary circles in
Istanbul.
The symposium, which shed
light on the literary history of Ottoman Europe from different perspectives,
concluded following academic presentations and discussions.
