A Feminist Ontological Intervention: Meinongian Ontology and Alternative History in Şebnem İşigüzel’s Novel İstanbullu Amazonlar 1809

Articles > Article · 2026

Authors: Fatıma ERTÜRK

Yeni Türk Edebiyatı Araştırmaları, Refereed Journals of Other Institutions, International, MLA International Bibliography, 2026, vol 18, pp 135-152

DOI: 10.26517/ytea.644

Summary

<p class="ql-align-justify">Şebnem&nbsp;İşigüzel’s&nbsp;novel&nbsp;İstanbullu&nbsp;Amazonlar&nbsp;1809&nbsp;presents&nbsp;an&nbsp;alternative&nbsp;history&nbsp;narrative&nbsp;through&nbsp;its&nbsp;fictional&nbsp;premise&nbsp;of&nbsp;Esma&nbsp;Sultan&nbsp;ascending&nbsp;the&nbsp;Ottoman&nbsp;throne.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the&nbsp;existing&nbsp;literature,&nbsp;the&nbsp;relationship&nbsp;between&nbsp;fiction&nbsp;and&nbsp;reality&nbsp;has&nbsp;generally&nbsp;been&nbsp;addressed&nbsp;in&nbsp;terms&nbsp;of&nbsp;truth&nbsp;value&nbsp;or&nbsp;representational&nbsp;distance,&nbsp;while&nbsp;the&nbsp;ontological&nbsp;status&nbsp;of&nbsp;fictional&nbsp;characters&nbsp;has&nbsp;remained&nbsp;relatively&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;background.&nbsp;In&nbsp;order&nbsp;to&nbsp;fill&nbsp;this&nbsp;gap,&nbsp;the&nbsp;first&nbsp;section&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;article&nbsp;discusses&nbsp;the&nbsp;ontological&nbsp;positions&nbsp;of&nbsp;fictional&nbsp;characters&nbsp;within&nbsp;the&nbsp;framework&nbsp;of&nbsp;Alexius&nbsp;Meinong’s&nbsp;“theory&nbsp;of&nbsp;objects”.&nbsp;In&nbsp;this&nbsp;context,&nbsp;although&nbsp;the&nbsp;character&nbsp;of&nbsp;Esma&nbsp;Sultan&nbsp;does&nbsp;not&nbsp;exist&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;physical&nbsp;world&nbsp;as&nbsp;someone&nbsp;who&nbsp;ascended&nbsp;the&nbsp;Ottoman&nbsp;throne,&nbsp;she&nbsp;is&nbsp;treated&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;“nonexistent&nbsp;object”&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Meinongian&nbsp;sense.&nbsp;Additionally,&nbsp;the&nbsp;“possible&nbsp;worlds&nbsp;model”&nbsp;developed&nbsp;by&nbsp;Saul&nbsp;Kripke&nbsp;enables&nbsp;Esma&nbsp;Sultan&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;positioned&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;“possible&nbsp;object”.&nbsp;This&nbsp;theoretical&nbsp;framework&nbsp;reveals&nbsp;the&nbsp;function&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;novel’s&nbsp;alteration&nbsp;of&nbsp;historical&nbsp;reality.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the&nbsp;second&nbsp;section&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;study,&nbsp;the&nbsp;premise&nbsp;upon&nbsp;which&nbsp;the&nbsp;novel&nbsp;is&nbsp;based&nbsp;-“what&nbsp;if&nbsp;a&nbsp;woman&nbsp;had&nbsp;ascended&nbsp;the&nbsp;Ottoman&nbsp;throne?”is&nbsp;examined&nbsp;within&nbsp;the&nbsp;context&nbsp;of&nbsp;alternative&nbsp;history.&nbsp;Through&nbsp;a&nbsp;feminist&nbsp;rewriting,&nbsp;the&nbsp;novel&nbsp;reconstructs&nbsp;the&nbsp;historical&nbsp;narrative&nbsp;by&nbsp;placing&nbsp;the&nbsp;female&nbsp;subject&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;center.&nbsp;While&nbsp;the&nbsp;actions&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;characters&nbsp;subvert&nbsp;the&nbsp;established&nbsp;division&nbsp;between&nbsp;the&nbsp;public&nbsp;and&nbsp;private&nbsp;spheres,&nbsp;the&nbsp;ironic&nbsp;style&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;work&nbsp;functions&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;aesthetic&nbsp;counter-strategy&nbsp;against&nbsp;official&nbsp;historiography’s&nbsp;claim&nbsp;to&nbsp;objectivity.&nbsp;Thus&nbsp;the&nbsp;novel&nbsp;erodes&nbsp;patriarchal&nbsp;historical&nbsp;discourse&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;levels&nbsp;of&nbsp;both&nbsp;content&nbsp;and&nbsp;form.&nbsp;In&nbsp;conclusion,&nbsp;by&nbsp;evaluating&nbsp;the&nbsp;novel&nbsp;along&nbsp;the&nbsp;axes&nbsp;of&nbsp;Meinongian&nbsp;ontology&nbsp;and&nbsp;alternative&nbsp;history,&nbsp;this&nbsp;study&nbsp;aims&nbsp;to&nbsp;offer&nbsp;a&nbsp;new&nbsp;perspective&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;debates&nbsp;concerning&nbsp;theontological&nbsp;status&nbsp;of&nbsp;fictional&nbsp;characters.</p>

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