Making the Mediterranean Response Week 3

In Istanbul, we talked a lot about the Mediterranean, and the Ottoman Empire in particular, serving as a contact zone between a variety of cultures, ethnicities, and religions.  The information discussed in this week’s classes and readings provided more validation for this claim, and I found it interesting this time to learn about the give-and-take relationship from the Italian perspective. 

            I particularly enjoyed Braudel’s description of the Mediterranean Sea, not only as an obstacle or barrier between lands, but also as a source of unity, transport, and a means of exchange and intercourse.  The way he described the Mediterranean itself as being formed through the movement of people really stood out to me, and I think showed very well how lives and identities in the region have historically been anything but static (201).

            It was also fascinating for me to learn more about some of the things that encouraged contact between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean in the early modern period.  In Istanbul, we discussed the importance of conquering land for an empire’s economy, and the way that this led to interaction between cultures.  We also touched on the way marriage and family bonds of rulers from different areas created a region of rather fluid identities.  However, it was new for me to learn that interaction was also caused by migration to the East because intolerance, exemplified by things like the inquisition in the West, encouraged citizens to migrate towards the more tolerant East.  Also, I was previously unaware of just how powerful the small Italian cities like Genoa and Venice were, even in relation to the relatively enormous Ottoman Empire, and how both regions were so reliant upon one another and mutually involved for trade purposes.

            In Istanbul, the Western influence was really palpable, especially in areas like Galatta, where we went to school, because of its history as a haven for European migrants.  This seems to be evidence of the “Western education of the Ottoman Empire” that resulted from the West to East migration that we discussed in class.  I have yet to visit Venice and see the Ottoman influence there, but the Ottoman influence in Florence is somewhat visible, at least through the mass consumption of coffee.  However, the coffee does seem to be decidedly separated from its Eastern roots.  I know that there is a history of orientalist prejudice and intolerance for Ottoman culture in the West, and I expect that this is why Ottoman influence is rather invisible, or at least hidden in this city.  However, due to the long history of interaction between the East and West, I know that this influence does exist.  Another reason why Ottoman culture may not be particularly emphasized is because it has simply become a part, and developed along with Italian culture.  Finally, though I know there are differences between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean in terms of religion, art, architecture, and many other factors, I am curious about to what extent other cultural differences actually exist.  This is because I expect that it is quite likely that many of the ideas of difference between the East and West are more emphasized because of the aforementioned prejudices, and may be blown out of proportion in our modern perceptions of the Mediterranean.