Tanzimat

The Tanzimat Platform is a digital resource designed for high school and university students and teachers, offering open-access texts and enriched learning materials centered on key literary works from the Tanzimat period of Turkish literature. The project was inspired by our wish to make available —free of charge—, some of the most important works of our literary and cultural heritage, written roughly 150 to 180 years ago and now in the public domain. We rendered the language of these texts to make them more accessible to today’s readers, while preserving their original tone and literary value, and added glossaries to each work to support understanding and engagement. The platform features 12 literary texts from the Tanzimat era adapted into modern Turkish as mentioned, along with their detailed analyses, and explanations of 11 literary concepts frequently encountered in literary studies. In addition, it includes biographies of 8 major Tanzimat authors, highlighting key turning points in their lives. Recognizing that studying a literary work—especially one written during such a pivotal moment in Ottoman history—requires understanding its broader context, we added a distinctive “Historical Events” section to the platform. This section presents analyses of 12 significant events that shaped both Ottoman history and Tanzimat literature, helping readers better grasp the historical background reflected in the works. Together, these studies form a kind of chronology of the Tanzimat era and encourages students to deepen their understanding through summary and research questions. Through these features, the platform also offers classroom project ideas and research activities that bridge the fields of literature and history. This online platform continues to grow as a free educational resource, supporting learning through accessible content.