Macedonian Translation of Ottoman Archival Documentation (Development and Experience)

Abstract

This text shows the decades-long development of Ottoman studies, primarily in its translation segment, in the current Republic of North Macedonia. The beginnings and the development of the translation of Ottoman documents within the Macedonian history­iography are shown, as well as their meaning and use as historical sources by the Macedonian historians. Attention is paid to the problems faced by this translation segment in terms of the long editorial process that is needed to educate a translator in the Ottoman Turkish language, as well as the complexity of this language. There is also a brief overview of the collections and types of original Ottoman documents and manuscripts kept in the Macedonian archives and libraries which constitute the main corpus for translation by Mace­donian ottomanists.