エヴリヤ・チェレビをめぐる近年の動向：2011年「エヴリヤ・チェレビ年」および『旅行記』の情報源研究を中心に

Seyahatnâme (Book of travels) by Evliya Çelebi (1611-85?), a 17th century Ottoman writer, has been regarded as the work containing valuable observations about contemporary Ottoman society. On the other hand, it has been criticized for innumerable falsifications and exaggerations. However, stimulated by the recent publication of new editions of the work, these evaluations have changed drastically.To begin with, there has been criticism of the traditional approach in which researchers have focused on each of the work’s individual descriptions as historical sources, leading to a shift of attentions to the whole work as a text. Secondly, since 2001, which was proclaimed “Evliya Çelebi Year” by UNESCO in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the author’s birth, a large number of academic symposiums have been held and their proceedings published, affording opportunities for discussion among many researchers in different disciplines.In 2012, two collections of papers came out concerning the sources on which Seyahatnâme is based, leading to a further clarification of the structure of the work through comparison of those sources, as well as clarification of the importance of the oral element in the sources, thus characterizing Evliya Çelebi as an author closely associated with the oral tradition. This research also enabled a more positive evaluation of the fictional elements of the work, by considering the author as utilizing techniques adapted from the oral performing arts.Generally, it can be said that the recent research on Evliya Çelebi aims to determine the proper place of Seyahatnâme within the cultural context of the era during which the work was written. Through further clarification of the contextual relationship between the author and the world around him, Seyahatnâme will certainly continue to be utilized as a historical source in a wide range of fields