Sex in the Text: Deli Biraderʹs Dâfi‘ü ʹl-gumûm ve Râfi‘ü ʹl-humûm and the Ottoman Literary Canon

The present Ottoman literary canon ignores texts with sexual content. Due to the use of sexually explicit vocabulary employed in them, many texts both in prose and poetry remain in manuscript form without being edited and translated. Even if such texts are being edited, their sexual content and meaning as well as their function within a classical literary tradition are not explored. This article provides a close reading of a sixteenth century collection of sexually explicit stories, Dâfi‘ü ʹl-gumûm ve Râfi‘ü ʹl-humûm, by Ottoman author Deli Birader, in an attempt to situate this work within the literary canon of Ottoman literature; while doing this, it presents a cursory view of the Ottoman literary canon as it developed over the course of centuries.