Global and International Studies Building, 3009
Education
B.A., Ankara University, 1987
M.A., Indiana University, 1990
Ph.D., Indiana University, 1993
Certificate, ACTFL and Defense Language Institute, 2005
Certificate, ACTFL/ILR OPI Tester Certification, 2007
Reviewer, DLPT5 Reading for DoD, 2018
Certificate, Antiterrorism Awareness Training by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2018
Research Interests
- Ottoman Court Literature
- Cultural History of the Ottoman Empire
- Turkish Oral Literature
- Secularism, Islam, and Modernity in Turkey
- Textual Studies
- Liberal Fascism
- Islamic Civilizations
- Lawful Islamism(s) within Liberal Democracies
- Terrorist Movements and Organizations
- Organized Crime
Personal Statement
Dr. Kemal Silay is Professor of Turkish Studies, the Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Endowed Chair Professor, founder and former Director of the Turkish Flagship Center (a US Department of Defense Initiative), and the Member of Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington, Seattle (1993–1997), and he established a highly successful Turkish Studies Program there. He is the author of numerous articles in Turkish and English on Turkish culture, literature, and politics. Among his books are Nedim and the Poetics of the Ottoman Court: Medieval Inheritance and the Need for Change (Indiana, 1994); An Anthology of Turkish Literature (Indiana, 1996); Ahmedi’s History of the Kings of the Ottoman Lineage and Their Holy Raids against the Infidels (Harvard, 2004.) He is a scholar of international reputation and sought-after expert on many issues regarding Turkey, its language, literature, history, society, and politics. His numerous publications, cultural activities, and scholarly endeavors have sparked the field of Turkish Studies in the US and worldwide.
He is currently working on two major book projects: 1) “TheBook of Handsome Ones by Fazıl-ı Enderuni,” 2) “Intelligence Records on the Turkish Communist Poet Nazım Hikmet.”
His leadership skills, dedication, and continuous efforts resulted in numerous volumes of scholarly books and journals on various aspects of Turkish Studies, and the successful organization of more than 100 public lectures on campus and 7 international conferences. Thanks to the vision and hard work of Professor Silay, IU’s Turkish Studies Program has become a leading institution in the United States.
Kemal Silay earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees, all in Turkish Studies from two institutions that are well-known for the strength of their Turkology programs. He has complete mastery of the languages pertinent to his field, in addition to several other research languages that he comfortably reads and uses in his publications. He has successfully demonstrated the ability to disseminate his knowledge and scholarly productions in both the primary language of his field (Turkish) and in English, writing and publishing in both languages with effectiveness.
In addition to the enormous energies that he devotes to his own research, publications, and teaching, he has made great efforts in service to his department, the university community, the field of Turkish Studies, and to the public, as well. He has made a great impact upon his field and its current and future directions, and has made Turkish Studies at Indiana University a prominent program which is perceived as vitally expanding in its activities and student participation. He has been invited to serve at some of the most significant and prestigious scholarly organizations of his field, and has done, and continue to do, an excellent job in fulfilling those duties. The dissemination of his knowledge, expertise and research not only serves the classrooms of Indiana University but outside of it, as well—as far as the People’s Republic of China.
Courses Recently Taught
- Introductory Ottoman Turkish
- Introductory Turkish
- Media Turkish
- Studies in Ottoman Texts: 13-15th Centuries
- Literature of the Ottoman Court in Translation
- Seminar in Turkish Studies: Sources of Turkish Language and Literature
- Turkish Literature in Translation
- Translating Turkish Literature
- Cultural History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
- Research in Classical Ottoman Texts
- The Glorification of Jihad: From Medieval to Postmodern
Current Research Projects
- Bir Halk Yazmasının Anatomisi: Seyyid Ebu’l-vefa Menakıbnamesi Üzerine
- On the Book of Handsome Ones: Same-Sex Discourse in Ottoman Court Literature
- The Cultural, Political, and Economic Nature of the ‘Turkish Islam’ Movement
Publication Highlights
Books
1994: Nedim and the Poetics of the Ottoman Court: Medieval Inheritance and the Need for Change. Indiana University Turkish Studies Series: XIII. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1994.
1996: An Anthology of Turkish Literature (Compiled and Edited by). Bloomington: Indiana University and Turkish Ministry of Culture Joint Series: XV, 1996.
1999: Turkish Folklore and Oral Literature: Selected Essays of İlhan Başgöz (Edited by). Bloomington: Indiana University Turkish Studies Series, 1999.
2004: Ahmedi’s History of the Kings of the Ottoman Lineage and Their Holy Raids against the Infidels. Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures Series. Massachusetts: Harvard University, 2004.
Selected Volumes (as General Editor of IU Turkish Studies Series):
2001: Turkish through Songs by Yıldıray Erdener. Bloomington: Indiana University Turkish Studies Series, 2001.
2001: Moi, Hoca Nasreddin, jamais je ne mourrai par İlhan Başgöz et Pertev Boratav. Bloomington: Centre des études turques à Indiana University et du Ministère de la Culture de Turquie, 2001.
2003: Ottoman Bursa in Travel Accounts by Heath W. Lowry. Bloomington: Indiana University Turkish Studies Series, 2003.
2003: Turkish Studies in the United States, edited by Donald Quataert and Sabri Sayarı. Bloomington: Indiana University Turkish Studies Series, 2003.
2003: Modern Azeri Literature: Identity, Gender and Politics in the Poetry of Mo’juz by Hadi Sultan-Qurraie. Bloomington: Indiana University Turkish Studies Series, 2003.
Reference Works, and Professional Journals Edited by Kemal Silay:
2000: The Turkish Studies Association Directory. Bloomington: Indiana University Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Chair, 2000.
2000: The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 24:1 (Spring 2000).
2000: The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 24:2 (Fall 2000).
2001: The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 25:1 (Spring 2001).
2001: The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 25:2 (Fall 2001).
2002: The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 26:1 (Spring 2002).
2002: The Turkish Studies Association Journal 26:2 (Fall 2002).
Selected Articles:
1991: “Ahmedi’nin Osmanlı Tarihinde Arasözlerin Kullanımı ve İşlevi,” Türkoloji Dergisi IX/1 (1991), pp. 153-162.
1992: “Ahmedi’s History of the Ottoman Dynasty,” Journal of Turkish Studies 16 (1992), pp. 129-200.
1992: “Türk Yazı ve Dil Devriminin Sosyal(ist) Boyutları,” Edebiyat ve Eleştiri 5 (1992), pp. 2-7.
1993: “Ottoman Elitism Revisited: Buket Uzuner’s Balık İzlerinin Sesi as a Recent Manifestation of (Post)modern(ist) Discourse in Turkish Literature,” Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 17/1 (1993), pp. 25-34.
1993: “The Usage and Function of Digressions in Ahmedi’s History of the Ottoman Dynasty,” Turcica: Revue d’Études turques XXV (1993), pp. 143-151.
1993: “Günahkâr Furug: İslam, Cinsellik ve Feminist Söylem,” Edebiyat ve Eleştiri 10 (Eylül-Ekim 1993), pp. 22-28.
1996: “Liminality, Ritual and Social Performance: Yashar Kemal’s Legend of the Karachullu Yürüks and the ‘Problems’ of Nomadic Entity in Anatolia” in An Anthology of Turkish Literature. Bloomington: Indiana University and Turkish Ministry of Culture Joint Series: XV, 1996, pp. 443-455.
1997: “Singing His Words: Ottoman Women Poets and the Power of Patriarchy” in Women in the Ottoman Empire: Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Era, Edited by Madeline Zilfi (Leiden: Brill, 1997), pp. 197-213.
1999: “Müzik-Edebiyat Eleştirisi ve Divan Şiiri,” Edebiyat ve Eleştiri 3 (1992), pp. 61-74 [reprinted with revisions in the Osmanlı Divan Siiri Üzerine Metinler, edited by Mehmet Kalpaklı, İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Publications, 1999].
2000: “Osmanlıdan Sonra Osmanlı Şiiri: Göstergeler Savaşı,” E: Aylık Kültür ve Edebiyat Dergisi(Haziran 2000), pp. 88-93.
2000: “Erkeğin Ağzıyla Söylenen Gazel: Osmanlı Kadın Şairler ve Ataerkilliğin Gücü,” translated by Necmiye Alpay into Turkish from the English original (“Singing His Words: Ottoman Women Poets and the Power of Patriarchy”) in Modernleşmenin Eşiğinde Osmanlı Kadınları (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2000).
2005: “Turkish Literature and the Qur’an” in Encyclopedia of the Qur’an (Leiden: Brill Publishers).
2006: “Şiir ve Müzik” in Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi, edited by Talat S. Halman, Osman Horata, Yakup Çelik, Ramazan Korkmaz, M. Öcal Oğuz. Kültür Eserleri, 4 volumes (Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları, 2006).
2007: “Computers, Sex and Gender,” Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender.