The Prose and Verse Texts Conveying Wishes of Good Health: Iyadatnamas and Sıhhatnamas

Abstract

To date, studies of texts written for ill or recovering patrons or intimate friends have focused predominantly on sıhhatnamas, while ıyadetnamas have been overlooked. In fact, Ottoman artists not only wrote poems in the genre of sıhhatnama, they also wrote letters named ıyadetnama, written to wish good health especially to their patrons who were sick or recently recovered from an illness. This article asserts that these prose and verse texts, produced with similar intentions, should be examined together in order to grasp all aspects of the texts. For this reason, sıhhatnama and ıyadetnama examples are examined through cross referencing their contextual, structural and expressional aspects. The relationship of the sıhhatnamas and ıyadetnamas to the duanamas and official Ottoman documents (telhises), which were produced with similar motivations, has also been made clear. As a result, it is revealed that these texts, which were produced within the same tradition, despite some differences, are shaped around a similar structure. In other words, they share a common discourse.