Irvin Cemil Schick: “Intercultural permeability is neglected.”

Samsun University Centre of Art and Thought hosted Irvin Cemil Schick, moderated by Cevat Sucu within the scope of “Öteki Buluşmalar” 2021. With his speech titled “Ottoman Physiognomy and It’s Predecessors” on an online program, Schick explained his evaluations on the subject.

“Physiognomy is about inferring people’s personalities from their appearance” 

Starting his speech, Schick said “Physiognomy is the doctrine that the Arabs call ilmü’l-firâse, and the Ottomans rather ilm-i kıyâfet. It’s about inferring people’s personalities by using their appearance. For example, Erzurumlu İbrahim Hakkı’s book, the most important physiognomy book of the last period, begins as follows: 

“Kim ki boyudur tavîl, sâde dil olur cemîl

  Kim ki boyudur kasîr, hîlesi vardır kesîr 

Kim ki vasat boyludur, âkil ve hôş huyludur.” 

So the tall one becomes just a human being with no interesting features, the short one becomes a cheater, the medium height becomes smart and good-natured. The book continues in this manner. With the definition of Taşköprülüzâde Ahmed Efendi’s book titled as Mevzu’âtü’l-‘Ulûm, physiognomy is such a science that the creation of people can be understood from their appearance. Akşemseddinzâde Hamdullah Hamdi died in 1503. So he lived in the late 15th century. In his book, he says: “When God created the human species, He also created individuals different from each other. Though their essence is one, their appearance is different. God has shown his grace and made people’s appearance the mark of character.”

“Physiognomy has been gaining much attention for a while”

Continuing his speech Schick said “Physiognomy has been used in the past to buy slaves, choose a wife, employ civil servants or even detect innocence or guilt. The subject of my talk tonight is Ottoman physiognomy in its historical context. Let me explain what I mean by historical context. In recent years, many books and articles on the subject have been published. Several theses have been written on the subject. Many important booklets were transferred to Latin letters. Aside from the encyclopedia articles, there were seventeen academic publications in the 2000s and over thirty in the 2010s, compared to two in the 1980s, three in the 1990s. So physiognomy has been gaining much attention for a while. However, in many of these publications, only the titles of the Arabic and Persian booklets are listed and their contents are not mentioned. The subject is usually handled only within the Ottoman framework. The long-standing permeability between cultures is neglected. We can even say that it is suppressed. I think this is due to a completely unnecessary concern for originality. I mean, physiognomy is also the subject of nationalist debates. However, writers of the past have never found it necessary to hide what they get from whom. We created this. Thinking like this a modern claim prevents us from dealing with the subject comprehensively.”

“The works of different cultures have influenced the later physiognomy books in the İslamic world” 

Irvin Cemil Schick gave information about the sources and the formation of the theoretical background of the physiognomy books written in the Islamic world, including the Ottomans. He said, “Like the works attributed to Aristotle, Polemon’s book has deeply influenced and shaped the Islamic physiognomy. Kâtip Çelebi said that he believed he could make inferences about morality based on human composition for Polemon. The first person in the Islamic world to base the teaching on a scientific basis is undoubtedly Ebu Bekr Muhammed bin Zekeriya er-Razi. The famous medical book called El-Mansûrî fî’t-tıb begins with the examination of the relationship between the physical and mental aspects of human beings. In the second chapter anâsır-ı erba’a and four temperament types are discussed in detail. Then, the relationship between body and character is established, and in this way, the theoretical background of the teaching is revealed.

“Scientific physiognomy began to replace traditional physiognomy from the 19th century”

Schick also touched on the fundamentals of the transformation in Ottoman physiognomy texts in the 19th century and continued his speech as follows: “Many Islamic books have been translated into Latin and many European languages since the Middle Ages in Europe. These translations significantly influenced the Renaissance. Physiognomy entered Europe through these translations, but it was initially not taken too seriously and considered superstitious. Later, it became a kind of science and affected many fields. In this process, the books of authors such as Thomas Brown, Giambattista Della Porta, and especially Johann Kaspar Lavater have been published, translated, and analyzed many times. Especially Lavater is known as the person who put physiognomy on a scientific basis, which was considered equivalent to fortune-telling and astrology in Europe until that day. His works published in German since 1775 were translated into many languages, were read throughout the 19th century, and over time influenced other teachings. For example, criminology with Cesar Alonbrose and eugenics theories with Frances Galten is based on the supposed close relationship between the bodies and characters of people. This science has entered Turkey from the 19th century and has begun to replace traditional Ottoman science. As far as we know, the first Ottoman printed physiognomy book is Tahir Ömerzâde Yusuf Halis’s work titled Kıyâfetnâme-i Cedîd which is a translation made from Lavater. Although the date of publication is not given, it must have been published in 1839, as it is stated in the preface that it was published due to Abdulmecid’s accession to the throne. 

“Along with its predecessors and successors, Islamic physiognomy also has its own publications”

Schick stated that Islamic physiognomy has its character, even though it has Greek predecessors and European successors, and said: “I would like to briefly state what makes this science Islamic, that is, what distinguishes it from both the ancient Greeks and its modern relatives. Along with its predecessors and successors, Islamic physiognomy also has its publications. The poet Sünbülzâde Vehbi wrote the book Lütfiyye for his son in 1791. This book is a verse advice book in which various professions are explained. There are some statements in this book: “How beautiful is the physiognomy, Allah created it most beautifully.” Based on these statements, Schick made some determinations: “Here is a reference to the fourth verse of the surah al-fil (the elephant). The meaning of the divine manifestation on the body is read. Whoever examines it carefully becomes aware of the hidden states of a person. The idea that the body can be read comes up again and again here. I think this is a very important point. Because reading and writing actions are very important in Islam.” Schick also added: “According to Islam the first thing created is a pen and the first revelation is the command to ‘read’. It shows how central the concepts of reading and writing are in Islam.”

The talk titled “Ottoman Physiognomy and its Predecessors” ended with the active participation, questions, and contributions of the audience.