The first page of the hand-written Ottoman libretto of Pacini’s “Saffo” that was analyzed and translated into English by Dr. Ici Vanwesenbeeck.
Department of English Associate Professor Ici Vanwesenbeeck's article, “Early Libretto Writing Tradition in the Ottoman Empire (1839–1861): The Handwritten Copy of Pacini’s Saffo,” has been accepted for publication in The Opera Journal's Autumn/Winter 2023 issue.
In the article, Dr. Vanwesenbeeck unearths archival material and offers the first ever English translation of the Ottoman libretto of “Saffo.”
The article examines the early libretto writing tradition in the Ottoman Empire through a close reading of Pacini's “Saffo.” Early libretto, called tercüme-i hülasa (translated summaries), was radically different from its European counterparts in form and content, Vanwesenbeeck explained. Her article analyzes both these differences and the conditions that determined the early Ottoman hülasa by discussing the writing technologies, emergence of public operas and efforts in popularizing opera.
It argues that in the end, it was at the intersection of these conditions that early libretto writing emerged in the Ottoman Empire, Vanwesenbeeck concluded.
The Opera Journal is a peer-reviewed online bi-annual scholarly journal published by the National Opera Association. It serves a broad and diverse readership of opera scholars and practitioners.
