Body Culture and Wrestling Tradition in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

This study examines the historical development of the wrestling tradition by focusing on the cultural, moral, and social meanings attributed to the body in the Ottoman Empire. In the Ottoman intellectual system, the body was regarded as a carrier of discipline, spirituality, and social belonging, and wrestling was seen not only as a physical activity but also as a means of conveying social identity and values. Pehlivanlık was constructed as a way of life identified with moral integrity and physical maturity. With the proclamation of the Republic, sport became an ideological tool, and wrestling was institutionalized within the framework of modernization policies but distanced from its traditional conceptual world. Although events such as Kırkpınar have been preserved under the status of cultural heritage, the educational and moral dimensions of wrestling have been reduced to the level of ceremonial representation. The article evaluates the transformation of the concept of bodily discipline from the Ottoman period to the present, through both the historical and contemporary representations of wrestling, and discusses the sustainability of this cultural heritage.