“ALBANIAN” AS A TERM: ALBANIANS IN THE 18TH CENTURY OTTOMAN THINKING

Abstract

This study examines the discourse Ottoman statesmen and scholars had developed for the Albanian communities, which was exclusively identified by their ethnic identities. Based mostly on the contexts the 18th century Ottoman chronicles associated with Albanians, it focuses on the stereotypes and pejorative expressions in the discourses the Ottoman establishment brought about in addressing the Albanians. Consideration of the term “Albanian,” which was mostly associated with pejorative adjectives particularly in the Orientalist discourses of the 19th century, in a different context in the discourses of the Ottoman elites before the age of colonialism is quite intriguing. This article examines the Khaldunist perspective of these elites in association with their mostly negative opinions about the mobile populations of the empire. At the same time, it sheds light on the changing aspects of this association in the aftermath of the rebellions in the 18th century and whether this association became permanent in the dominant Ottoman discourse. Focusing on themes such as Ottoman public order, army, and confessional considerations, this paper deals with how the term “Albanian” was associated with the discourse of Ottoman elite and investigates whether the latter constituted the base of the pejorative discourses of the 19th century that targeted the Albanian communities with “modern” and “orientalist” motives.