Tıbb-ı Cedid (New Medicine) as a New Era in the Ottoman Medicine: Medical Texts Translated in the Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

Abstract

This chapter focusses on medical works translated from Western and Eastern languages into Turkish in the Ottoman Empire during the eighteenth century, which will be studied within the framework of Ottoman terceme and telif traditions. It mainly deals with how physician-translators produced their works under a scientific movement called Tıbb-ı Cedid during the eighteenth century. The findings demonstrate that the very first medical works translated from Latin increased the popularity of the field among Ottoman physicians by sparking their interest in the translation and production of similar works. Therefore, physician-translators in this period functioned as agents of change and pioneered the transformation of traditional Ottoman medicine, which influenced the Ottoman medical polysystem greatly in the period in question. This caused a struggle between traditional Ottoman medicine under the influence of Eastern physicians and new medical movements brought in via European languages, mainly Latin. Meanwhile, following various imperial edicts, Ottoman sultans became patrons and pioneers of this transformation in Ottoman medicine, providing continuous support to physician-translators and contributing to the selection of medical texts for translation. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Karen Bennett and Rogério Miguel Puga; individual chapters, the contributors.