The Academic Studies Association (ILEM) launched the Islamic Periodicals Project in 2013 in order to analyze the journey of Islamic publishing in Turkey. In the second phase of the project, Islamist journals published before 1960 will be analyzed. In this context, the 2nd Islamist Journals Symposium on “Islamist Thought and Journals Before 1960” will be organized on 7-8 January 2017.
In the first phase of the Islamic Periodicals Project initiated by ILEM in 2013, 3500 issues of 50 journals published between 1960-1980 were digitized and cataloged. Within the scope of the project, a symposium on the period was organized and a book of proceedings was published. In 2016, the second phase of the project will examine Islamist journals published before 1960. In this period, nearly 3000 issues of around 60 journals will be digitized and cataloged. In addition, the 2nd Islamic Periodicals Symposium on “Islamist Thought and Journals Before 1960” will be organized on 7-8 January 2017. Until the end of 2018, the project aims to contribute to the rethinking of Islamism by bringing a new dimension to the thought of Islamism and the discussions on it.
Today, the debates around Islamism continue to be lively. Recent developments, especially in the Islamic world and Turkey, have brought Muslims and the idea of Islamism back to the center of discussions and have led to a significant increase and mobility in the studies and publications in this field. The fact that the idea of Islamism is such a lively subject is influenced by the fact that it affects different areas of life in a sense. However, one of the biggest handicaps of discussions on Islamism, as in every issue that is discussed and talked about a lot, is the problem of repetition. In order to overcome this problem, it is necessary to move away from studies that deal with the issue in general terms to more specific and detailed studies. In this framework, the 2nd Islamist Journals Symposium aims to examine the birth of the idea of Islamism in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, the ideas of Islamists in the transition from the Ottoman to the Republican period and the early history of Islamist thought through Islamist journals published before 1960.
In this context, the journals that have important functions in the formation, development and transmission of Islamist thought will be discussed. In these journals, the birth of Islamism, what kind of issues it brought to the agenda at the time, and how it approached current political, economic, social, etc. issues will be examined comparatively. In this way, in a sense, the first nuclei, production and discussion forms of Islamism thought in Turkey will be revealed and in this way, a bridge will be tried to be built between the past perspective of Islamism and its future vision. Some of the topics to be addressed in this framework are as follows:
The place of Islamist journals published before 1960 in the history of publishing in Turkey
Analyzing the Islamist journals of the period around various special topics (For example: “Addressing the Caliphate Issue in Sebîlürreşâd Magazine”; “Sırât-ı Müstakim and Sebîlürreşâd Magazines as the First Examples of Islamist Journalism”; “An Opposing Voice in the One-Party Period: Büyük Doğu")
Evaluation of the developments related to publishing in the period (For example: Advertisements in Islamist Magazines Published Before 1960")
Reflections of national and international social, political and economic developments of the period in Islamist journals (For example: "The Reflection of the Palestinian Issue on Islamist Journals: The Example of Selâmet"; ‘The Issue of Religious Education in the Single-Party Period in Islamist Journals Published Before 1960’)
A comparative analysis of the Islamist journals of the period (For example: “Mevlana in Selâmet and Din Yolu Dergeleri”)
The place and representation of various social issues or concepts in these journals (For example: “Serdengeçti Magazine and Russia-Anticommunism”)
Studies on the publication forms and types of journals (e.g: “Tefrika Publications in Pre-1960 Islamist Journals”; “Translation Movement in Islamist Journals Published Before 1960”)
The topics to be addressed in the symposium are not limited to these and we hope to receive paper proposals on topics similar to those listed here. However, the symposium aims to include research based directly on primary sources rather than papers based on literature discussions.
In addition to the opening conference and panel, the symposium will be held in 6 sessions on January 7-8, 2017. We welcome all contributions and invite abstract submissions until July 31st.
The application form must be filled in for abstract submission. Please contact idp@idp.org.tr for information and communication.
Important Dates
July 31, 2016 Deadline for abstract submission
August 10, 2016 Announcement of accepted abstracts
November 30, 2016 Deadline for full text submission
15 December 2016 Announcement of the program
January 7-8, 2017 Symposium
