"In this Religion I will live, and in this Religion I will Die": Performativity and the Protestant Identity in Late Ottoman Syria

Abstract

In 1850, an Imperial firmān was circulated by the Ottoman authorities regarding the Protestant religion. It stated '…[l]et, then, a respectable and trustworthy person, acceptable to and chosen by themselves, from among their own number, be appointed, with the title of "Agent of the Protestants," who shall be attached to the department of the Minister of Police,' and thus serve as the official representative for the Protestant community to the Porte. This order was pronounced during the Tanzīmāt, an important period of reform when the Ottoman goverment sought to reconfigure its relationship with its diverse subjects (Hanssen, Philipp and Weber 2002:6- 21; Hanssen 2002:49-74; Makdisi 2008:184-186). This specific decree was a response to a series of events, whereby different groups of individuals, around the Empire, appropriated Euro-American theology and church structuring to their own social and religious practices. Through this and subsequent pronouncements, the Ottoman government recognized and incorporated the different pockets of Protestantism that emerged throughout the Empire and integrated this new religious identity into official structures.