Research Description

The cultural “presence” of the Ottoman dynasty in Ottoman society throughout the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; personality cults and the contestation of public persona in the late Ottoman public sphere(s).

Working Dissertation Title

“The Sultan-Caliph and the Heroes of the Revolution: “Entangled” Cults and the Contestation of Public Persona in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1876-1922”

Biography

Arlen Wiesenthal is an MA student and historian of the Ottoman Empire with an interest in the cultivation of persona, the dissemination and contestation of public image, and the personification of empire. He completed his Bachelor of Arts at SFU in 2015 with a focus on Middle East and Islamic History, and has since lectured on early Turkish intellectual history and Mughal monarchical culture.

While his central focus lies in the Ottoman world (circa 1300-1922) and on the Ottoman dynasty, his work focuses more generally on the relationships between institutional development, cultural production, and the creation of "official" constructions of kingship and legitimacy as abstract objects of consumption. His current research project is an exploration of late Ottoman “cultures of monarchy” that seeks to expand the scope of the study of the Ottoman dynasty to include its presence in social and cultural time and space.

Conference Presentations

“‘Jahangir's Dream’: ‘Gunpowder Empires,’ Visual Representation, and Universal Sovereignty in Early Modern Eurasia.” Qualicum History Conference. The University of Victoria, Parksville BC, January 31st 2015.

“‘The Floral Preoccupations of Ahmed III’: A Review of Methodological Approaches to the Ottoman ‘Tulip Period.’” The Middle East and Islamic Consortium of British Columbia. Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC, March 28^th 2015.

“Cults of the Sultans: Prophethood and Ottoman Sovereignty in the Early Modern Period (1389-1703).” Qualicum History Conference. The University of Victoria, Parksville BC, January 31st 2016.

Awards

William F. and Ruth Baldwin Graduate Scholarship

Provost Prize of Distinction

C.D. Nelson Memorial Graduate Entrance Scholarship

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC CGSM)

Teaching Assistantships

HIST 106: The Making of Modern Europe (Fall 2015)

HIST 255: China Since 1800 (Spring 2016)