Rehber-i Umur-u Beytiye: A Guideline in the Socialization of Female Students at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

The basic scope of this paper is to discuss female education in the Ottoman Empire in relation to social circumstances around the begining of World War I by making reference to a textbook published in 1901 (1319). The main emphasis relies on investigating, through the looking glass of Rehber-i Umur-u Beytiye ( Book of Home Economics ), the preparation of young minds for their domestic future in schools for girls. The evidence is supported by data from another textbook composed for the same purpose about twenty years later, Ýktisad-ý Beytiye (Book of Domestic Finance). In order to provide for the necessary information regarding the schedule and topics selectively included in the book, content analysis appears in Chapter III. A selection of illustration, with related commentary, added in order to give an idea about the iconography, along with an index that offers the list of themes regarded as indispensable for young housewives.

(Approved by Prof. Dr. Zafer Toprak, Assist. Prof. Arzu Öztürkmen, Dr. Duygu Köksal)