As If Silent and Absent: Bonds of Enslavement in the Islamic Middle East (review)

Slavery existed in various forms in all societies and eras of history. Until relatively recently, however, most modern scholarship dealt with forms of slavery related to the Atlantic slave trade in the modern era. A growing number of scholars have expanded the range of this scholarship, examining the history and institutions of slavery in many different regions and periods. Toledano’s study of Ottoman history and society is an important contributor to this development.

In Toledano’s words, As If Silent and Absent “is all about people, their actions, their feelings”; it undertakes the task of “understanding enslavement on the individual level” (256). This project involves a rereading of Ottoman state and private records in a “process of experience reconstruction,” in which Toledano works to “establish what enslaved individuals did” and then immediately to “ask the questions What did they intend by so acting? What did they want to achieve by their deeds?” (35).

In Chapter 1, Toledano argues that enslavement “is a form of patronage relationship . . . requiring a measure of mutuality and exchange that posits a complex web of reciprocity” (8). Chapter 2 surveys the variety of responses by the enslaved when the bond of reciprocity is violated. Chapter 3 investigates the role of the Ottoman state in these experiences, noting that the Tanzimat modernization reforms of the late nineteenth century strengthened the responsibilities of the state as the patron of the enslaved. Chapter 4 examines criminal activity as a way for the enslaved to survive. The various criminal options included theft, arson, murder, prostitution, and acts of group defiance. Remarkably, in the Ottoman contexts, Toledano does not note any significant “slave rebellions.” In the final chapter, he describes “Ottoman cultural creolization”—that is, “the process by which enslaved Africans and Circassians retained ingredients of their origin-cultures” (204). The analysis concentrates on African “zar” traditions. The book’s conclusion provides an effective summary of the major themes.

Toledano’s analysis provides important insights into the lives of the enslaved but the presentation is a gallery of quick snapshots of many individuals. He might have given more attention to methods that expand the context of his subjects’ voices, like the in-depth reconstructions in Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale.¹ Toledano cites important works by Price that uncover the stories of individual slave experiences, but he does not note Price’s innovative use of different type fonts to identify different voices in Alabi’s World (40).² Toledano’s perspective is innovative, and his new reading of the sources is compelling. But his narrative method could benefit from the examples of scholars like Price and Ulrich.

This book represents a significant addition to the literature not only dealing with slavery but also with Ottoman history and with listening to the voices of nonelite people in world history. Toledano’s insights can benefit specialists and nonspecialists alike.