The Trade Zone as Cross-Cultural Space: Belgrade Carsi

Abstract

"The creation of the Ottoman Balkan culture was a very complex process involving the state, society, religion, local traditions, and trade.1 One of the main characteristics of Balkan culture is its multicultural nature. Along with the predominantly Ottoman state and religious cultural model, the meeting and crossing of cultures also played an important role. The models of everyday life, as well as the material and religious culture, were commonly exchanged and melded throughout the Balkans. A significant part of this process was the places that allowed the meeting and crossing of cultures. In addition to private spaces and private communication, the role of the public spaces and activities, which were not limited by the religious and ethnic barriers, was essential. The most important activity enabling different cultures to meet and interconnect within the Ottoman Empire was trade. One of the examples attesting to that fact can be found in nineteenth-century Belgrade, where the trade and the market spaces allowed for the creation of communal cultural models..."

Stvaranje otomanske balkanske kulture bio je veoma složen proces koji je uključivao državu, društvo, religiju, lokalnu tradiciju i trgovinu. Jedna od glavnih karakteristika balkanske kulture je njena multikulturalna priroda. Uz pretežno osmanski državni i verski kulturni model, važnu ulogu imalo je i susretanje i ukrštanje kultura. Modeli svakodnevnog života, kao i materijalna i verska kultura, bili su uobičajeno razmenjivani i stapani širom Balkana. Značajan deo ovog procesa bila su mesta koja su omogućavala susret i ukrštanje kultura. Pored privatnih prostora i privatne komunikacije, bitna je bila i uloga javnih prostora i aktivnosti koje nisu bile ograničene verskim i etničkim barijerama. Najvažnija aktivnost koja je omogućila da se različite kulture susreću i međusobno povezuju unutar Osmanskog carstva bila je trgovina. Jedan od primera koji to svedoči nalazi se u Beogradu u devetnaestom veku, gde su trgovinski i tržni prostori omogućavali stvaranje komunalnih kulturnih modela.