“Since in the Word, the Meaning is the Aim”: Word, Meaning, and Intention in Ottoman Poetry

Abstract

Ottoman poetry pushes the boundaries of modern theory because there is confusion about whether its multiple meanings are inherent in the text itself, i.e., meaning, or added during the process of interpretation, i.e., signification. In this study, I try to resolve this confusion by evaluating the practices of interpretation of sacred texts in Islamic and Christian theologies (ta’wil, allegory), the understanding of inspiration in Sufism, and the thoughts of Ottoman poets in their poems regarding the relationship between “word/scriptum” (lafz) and “meaning/voluntas” (ma‘nâ). I show that Ottoman poets presented two seemingly contradictory views. The first suggests that the word is limited while meaning is infinite. The second emphasizes that the meaning behind the plurality of words is singular. As products of the Sufi concept of manifestation (tajalli), these two views are not mutually exclusive. Ottoman poets believed that as the singular meaning in the heart was expressed, multiple meanings manifested from it one by one during reading. However, these multiple meanings are also not imposed subsequently on the text by the reader but are part of the first singular meaning manifested to the heart of the poet. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that these multiple meanings, which modern theory attributes to the reader, were not considered an imposed part of any text, but rather a part of the poem’s singular, legitimate, and intended meaning (the poet’s intention) in Ottoman poetry. Consequently, I argue that the ontological approach of Sufism brought about an epistemological expansion of meaning in Ottoman poetry, and a different “meaning regime”: a historical alternative model of meaning that challenges modern literary theory.