Challenging Conventions

As the core of Early Modern Ottoman poetry, love inspired a plethora of Turkish research, the most enlightening of which explored questions of terminology, semantics, and mystic dimensions. Internationally, however, there have been few publications on this subject. This book closes this gap by investigating sh in different genres and contexts. Whereas the terms ubb and maabbet point to comfort and care, the term sh denotes passionate love; often laced with mystical connotations. Through this lens we show that Ottoman lyrical realities transgressed the rules, burgeoning beyond conventional settings and giving voice to vivid creativity. Large parts of urban society indulged in poetry and thereby challenged certain norms.