Women in early modern Istanbul: the use of space

Abstract

This thesis examines the women in early modern Istanbul with particular focus on the use of space. Particularly, its main concern is to write about women's experience in a manner of use of domestic, outer public and social spaces in urban context. It argues that the women's sphere of action was by no means defined only by the boundaries set up through religious ideological norms, but also by a set of factors such as social background, economic status, tradition, familial relations and physical conditions. Thus, this thesis suggests that studying the urban experience of women necessitates a multi-dimensional investigation with the support of contextual reading of the archival documents.