Venetians in Constantinople: Nation, Identity, and Coexistence in the Early Modern Mediterranean (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science) [Hardcover]

Eric R Dursteler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0801883245 | ISBN-13: 978-0801883248 | Edition: 1

Historian Eric R Dursteler reconsiders identity in the early modern world to illuminate Veneto-Ottoman cultural interaction and coexistence, challenging the model of hostile relations and suggesting instead a more complex understanding of the intersection of cultures. Although dissonance and strife were certainly part of this relationship, he argues, coexistence and cooperation were more common.

Moving beyond the "clash of civilizations" model that surveys the relationship between Islam and Christianity from a geopolitical perch, Dursteler analyzes the lived reality by focusing on a localized microcosm: the Venetian merchant and diplomatic community in Muslim Constantinople.

While factors such as religion, culture, and political status could be integral elements in constructions of self and community, Dursteler finds early modern identity to be more than the sum total of its constitutent parts and reveals how the fluidity and malleability of identity in this time and place made coexistence among disparate cultures possible.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The introduction to this book is dazzling... The Venetian community in Constantinople provides an excellent site for exploration of issues of nation and identity... [Dursteler's] overall intention -- to demonstrate cultural diversity in a place and era that has been commonly assumed to lack it -- remains firmly at the fore, and he admirably fulfills his task." -- James S. Grubb, American Historical Review

"This is a boundary-busting book... Dursteler is to be commended for this insightful and gracefully-written work that delivers a powerful message in brief compass, and will help change the way we consider European-Ottoman relations in the early modern era, and perhaps West and non-West relations in our own." -- Margaret L. King, Renaissance Quarterly

"A subtle and successful book." -- Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance

"A significant contribution to new understandings of national, ethnic, and religious relations in the past, with clear explanations of common assumptions and frameworks for fluid identities and border-crossings." -- Uzi Baram, Renaissance Studies

"A rich body of interesting and colorful information... An important contribution to our understanding of the complex Mediterranean world of the early modern period." -- David Jacoby, Sixteenth Century Journal

From the Back Cover

Moving beyond the "clash of civilizations" model that surveys the relationship between Islam and Christianity from a geopolitical perch, historian Eric R Dursteler focuses on a localized microcosm: the Venetian merchant and diplomatic community in Muslim Constantinople. Although dissonance and strife were certainly part of this relationship, he argues, coexistence and cooperation were more common.

While such factors as religion, culture, and political status could be integral elements in constructions of self and community, Dursteler finds that the fluidity and malleability of identity in the early modern world made coexistence among disparate cultures possible.

"The introduction to this book is dazzling... The Venetian community in Constantinople provides an excellent site for exploration of issues of nation and identity... [Dursteler's] overall intention -- to demonstrate cultural diversity in a place and era that has been commonly assumed to lack it -- remains firmly at the fore, and he admirably fulfills his task." -- American Historical Review

"This is a boundary-busting book... Dursteler is to be commended for this insightful and gracefully written work that delivers a powerful message in brief compass, and will help change the way we consider European-Ottoman relations in the early modern era and perhaps West and non-West relations in our own." -- Renaissance Quarterly

"A significant contribution to new understandings of national, ethnic, and religious relations in the past, with clear explanations of common assumptions and frameworks for fluid identities and border-crossings." -- Renaissance Studies

"A rich body of interesting and colorful information... An important contribution to our understanding of the complex Mediterranean world of the early modern period." -- Sixteenth Century Journal

Eric R Dursteler is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (March 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801883245
• ISBN-13: 978-0801883248
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,002,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Dursteler is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD from Brown University in 2000, and is a former Fulbright fellow, NEH fellow, and in 2006-2007 was a fellow of the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, Italy. He works on the early modern Mediterranean, identity, conversion and the history of food, and teaches a wide range of courses. He is the editor of the News on the Rialto, and book review editor for the Journal of Early Modern History. He is married to Whitney Dursteler and has three children, Lauren, Collin, and Addy, and one granddaughter, Olivia.