Privacy in Public: Legal, Moral, Social, and Political Transgressions at the Greek Orthodox Carnival in Late Ottoman Istanbul

This lecture discusses transgressions which took place during the festive season before Greek Orthodox (Rum) Easter with a particular focus on the Greek Orthodox Carnival in Istanbul in the late Ottoman Empire (1870s to 1910s). In the light of primary and secondary sources, the lecture examines legal, moral, social and political transgressions during the carnival season and aims to show how they were regarded from the perspectives of the Ottoman state, the Greek Orthodox clergy and lay people, as well as the larger multi-ethnic and multi-religious Ottoman society including travelers and other temporary residents.