“Mecque de la pédagogie”: Two Ottoman Study Guides and Their Plea for Swiss Pedagogics

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Ṭūnalı Ḥilmī, an Ottoman intellectual and Young Turk who studied and lived in Geneva, and Türk Yūrdu, an Ottoman-Turkish student organisation in Geneva, each published a study guide to persuade Turkish-Muslim Ottomans to study in Europe or more precisely, in Switzerland. These works are not merely travel guides for those studying and living in Europe. They are also political writings. Their argumentation allows for an insight into the multifaceted and contradictory Ottoman perception of Europe. In these guides Ḥilmī and Türk Yūrdu call for the study of Swiss pedagogics. The guides are a good example of the difficult task of justifying the transfer of things European.