Brewing Pots of Revolt: Coffeehouses

the Islamic law for it is intoxicating and the beans are roasted beyond the point of carbonization, it is an innovation, or bid’ah, political activities in the coffeehouses becomes threatening for the authority, so called improper and criminal activities encouraged by the patrons of the coffeehouses are against public morality (Hattox 1996, p. 6). It was seen as an intoxicating beverage and the places where coffee was consumed were considered like taverns. The word qahwa was commonly used before coffee was known: it was one of the epithets of wine. Its Arabic root q-h-w/y denotes the idea making something repugnant or lessening one’s desire for something (Hattox 1996, p. 18). In the mid 16th century, the first coffeehouses were opened in Istanbul by two men, one named Hakem from Aleppo and the other named Şems from Damascus.The city was rapidly populated by numerous coffeehouses with rich variety. It could be said that there were two major types of coffeehouses; one was the neighbourhood coffeehouse, the other was the guild coffeehouse (Isin 2006, p. 31). They had become major elements in everyday life besides the mosque, the work space and the home. The new culture flourishing in the coffeehouse threatened the Ottoman way of life which was characterized by an introverted world. This process of socialization was beyond the control of authorities (Isin 2006, p. 25). From its roots in religious worship and ceremonies and then its way to Azhar in Cairo, Hattox (1996, p. 96) defines the coffeehouse as a Muslim institution from the very beginning. From these origins, it had flourished within the sophisticated coffee culture created in the Ottoman land. As it is briefly put by Unver (1967, p. 3) ‘Ottomans established a coffee and coffeehouse civilization’. The coffee and coffeehouse culture were introduced to Europe by the Ottomans. Schivelbusch’s (2000, p. 127) term ‘borrowed culture’ describing the luxuries refurbishing the life of the European upper class introduced to the Occident by the Orient would be exemplified by coffee. It was not only a new flavour, it was also a totally new culture of socialization developed around this beverage. Coffee had initially been consumed by large groups of people, in public as was the case of many novelties throughout the history of humankind and then became a habit in the private domain, i.e. at home (Schivelbusch 2000, p. 62). The social nature of coffee becomes instrumental at two points: one is developing an acquaintance with this new beverage, and the other is fuelling communication. Coffee drinking encouraged a particular form of socialization paving a way to the This paper examines how coffee acts not only as a mere beverage, but also as a social agent within the context of coffeehouse culture. It concentrates mainly on Ottoman, British and French examples from the 16th century to the 19th century. The coffeehouses of that period would be defined as representations of the world; they were the expressions of the value system of their society. Therefore, coffeehouse culture needs to be discussed in terms of its role in the evolution of the public sphere, how it shaped public opinion and how resistance was brewed into rebellion throughout history. In that respect, the capital cities of the powerful empires, Istanbul, London and Paris, where absolute authoritarian and monarchical powers reigned, provide rich ground for examining the evocative role of the coffeehouse in social, political and economic life. They provide us with scenes of everyday life where various social structures, professional groups and social classes take part. In England for instance, there were ‘Whig coffeehouses, Tory coffeehouses, commercial, clerical and merely social coffeehouses’ (Maude, 1933, p. 3). The following verse says it with a little complaint: