A Cultural History of African Slavery in the Ottoman Empire – The Calf Festival of Izmir

The “Calf Festival” was an annual multi-day celebration observed by enslaved and emancipated Africans in the Aegean port-city of Izmir in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (then part of the Ottoman Empire). Drawing upon a wide variety of Ottoman, Turkish, and British sources, this presentation will examine the history of the Calf Festival and its eventual demise. After outlining the history of African slavery and abolition in the Ottoman Empire, and describing the festival, this presentation will argue that, as with elsewhere in the global African diaspora, the Africans of Izmir used this festival not only as cultural link to their place of origin, but a critical strategy for managing the difficulties they experienced at Izmir’s social margins, while also creating group cohesion that enabled them to adapt to their new circumstances. This presentation thus aims to demonstrate the common sets of issues, questions, and avenues of exploration for scholars working on the cultural history of African slavery in the Muslim world with those working on the Americas. This talk is part of the GLC Brown Bag Lunch Series. Bring your lunch and we’ll provide the drinks & dessert.