Call for Papers

Unfolding an Unacknowledged Written Cultural Heritage:
Armeno-Turkish Manuscripts, Prints and Newspapers

6-8 August 2025

Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2024

Keynote: Sebouh Aslanian, Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History, UCLA
Armeno-Turkish as a heterographic literary field: Complicating Ottoman Convivencia 

The Ottoman Empire was characterised by a multiethnic, multireligious and multilingual society. The members of this group produced texts that make use of a plethora of languages and scripts, thereby contributing to a rich and complex cultural heritage. Armeno-Turkish literature, that is to say, Turkish texts written and printed in Armenian script (Dačkerēn, Hayadaṛ T’rkʻerēn), occupies a distinctive position within the broader cultural heritage of the Ottoman Empire.

The Department of Turkish Studies at the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna, has initiated a programme to facilitate comprehensive research into a substantial corpus of Armeno-Turkish manuscripts, printed books and newspapers produced between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, which are housed in the library of the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna. This will facilitate access to key sources for the study of Armenian history within the Ottoman Empire and the diaspora, as well as their contribution to and position within the Ottoman cultural environment.

The Mekhitarists were instrumental in fostering the Armenian Renaissance in Vienna, and the city is also home to the first work on the subject (Kraelitz-Greifenhorst 1912) and the most groundbreaking study on Armeno-Turkish literature (Tietze 1991). The project, which is currently ongoing, builds on these existing works and will continue the study of Armeno-Turkish texts in a truly revolutionary way. 

We would like to extend an invitation to established and young scholars alike to present and discuss their research on Armeno-Turkish in Vienna at this inaugural international conference. In addition to papers focused on Armeno-Turkish texts, we also welcome submissions that explore the multilingual and multicultural Ottoman world, with a particular focus on “allographic communities”.

Institutions that hold Armeno-Turkish collections and are engaged in the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage are also welcome. We encourage contributions from all disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches, and encourage interdisciplinary and comparative work in a collaborative format. Those participating in the conference are required to present research that has not been previously published and to submit their papers to the organisers one month prior to the event. The conference organisers will select papers for publication in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal or an edited volume.

Abstract submission

Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words accompanied by a brief academic curriculum vitae. Abstracts should include a research question and details of the data/empirical material, methodology and expected/preliminary findings. These should be submitted by 1 December 2024. The selection process will conclude on 1 February 2025. Selected papers for publication in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal or an edited volume must be submitted by 14 November 2025. The symposium will be conducted in English.

Please submit your abstract and curriculum vitae via email to yavuz.koese@univie.ac.at. 

Funding

Selected participants are eligible for funding to cover flight tickets (plus local public transportation) and accommodation. A reimbursement of up to € 300 will be made for the cost of flight tickets. In the case of co-authored papers, funding will be available for one of the presenters.