Nil Tekgül’s Emotions in the Ottoman Empire: Politics, Society and Family in the Early Modern Era (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023) explores the role of emotions in shaping the concepts of “protection” and “being protected” within the political, social, and familial contexts of early modern Ottoman society. Using court records as the primary source, emotions were conceptualised within the framework of moral virtues and vices through Kınalızâde Ali's work Ahlâk-ı Alâî and subjected to conceptual analysis. In this context, emotions such as shame, consent, mercy, and gratitude, which are read through actions and practices rather than internal processes, are examined within the framework of the ruler-ruled relationship, the relationships among the subjects themselves, and family relationships, where the concepts of protection and safeguarding are fundamental, in an attempt to express how these emotions were affected by modernisation movements. With the emergence of psychology as a modern science, emotions came to be regarded as internal processes, and the transformation processes brought about by modernisation movements also affected Ottoman society. In this regard, emotions, which became more rational due to the influence of modernisation movements in the political and social spheres, continued to play a complementary role in the family sphere.
