SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Overview

Name:

Mr Philipp Wirtz

Email address:

220643@soas.ac.uk

Office Hours:

by appointment only (pw10@soas.ac.uk)

Thesis title:

“Autobiography at the End of Empire: Modernity and Change in self-narrative about the late Ottoman Empire, 1880s-1920s”

Year of Study:

1st year started 2008/09

Internal Supervisors

• Benjamin Fortna

Biography

Modern history of the Middle East, particularly the Ottoman Empire, Iran and Afghanistan; contemporary Turkey; the role of Germany in the Middle East 1871-1945; problems of modernity and tradition, formation of ideologies and identities; history of everyday life.

PhD Research

My dissertation is going to examine, on the basis of autobiographical narratives, the last fifty years of the Ottoman Empire, an age of momentous changes in almost every aspect of political, social and cultural life. I propose to read autobiographies and memoirs not only as a source for political history, but as a way to gain a broader picture of late Ottoman social and cultural history. I am interested in which topics were dealt with in autobiographical writings, how authors evaluate the “blessings” of modernity, and how newly emerging national identities were (re-)negotiated by writing life stories.

PhD Conferences

“Sick Man or New Turkey? German observers of the Young Turk movement”, Turning Points in History, conference held at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, 26th- 27th June 2008.

Upcoming: “A Long Farwell: Perceptions of the First World War in Turkish autobiographies”, Other Fronts, other Combatants, conference at the Imperial War Museum, London, 10th -12th September 2009.

PhD Affiliations

London Middle East Institute (LMEI), Institute of Historical Research (IHR)