American Style or Turkish Chair: The Triumph of Bodily Comfort

Abstract

This article investigates the reciprocal influence of Ottoman Turkish and American interiors in the development of seating furniture. Seating furniture is unique because it involves a direct and physical interaction between the piece of furniture and the body, while at the same time it is part of a public space where social interactions occur. I will argue that the interactions between the Ottoman Turks and Americans are reflected in the way these traditions modified their seating furniture as they sought to mediate cultural, political and social differences between them. The concept of bodily comfort will serve as a common thread in understanding the origin of the expression "American style" (Amerikan stili or Amerikan tarzı) in modern Turkish language, the "Turkish chairs" in Victorian America in the late nineteenth century and the English language use of words such as sofa, ottoman and divan.

The Production of Consumer Society

“…32 Néret 2007. 33 Rabinovitch-Fox 2015 34 Indigenisation of objects from foreign cultures can sometimes be reciprocal in meaning, as the example of the armchair impressively shows (Cevik 2010). The growing predilection for the oriental in the Victorian West brought forth the Turkish armchair (Ottoman) in America, a thing given the term American-style in the Ottoman world, in response to its growing interest in the West.…”