The Word Zant from the Poet's Perspective: In Pursuit of an Obsolete Word

Abstract

This article focuses on the word zant, which rarely appears in Ottoman poetry and served as the redif [synonymous repetition for rhyming in poetry] of a descriptive gazel [ode] in the Divan [collected poems] of Aski of Uskudar. As part of the first step, the study attempts to interpret the signification of the word zant by drawing upon the context of its appearance in the gazel and consequently identifies two possibilities by considering its compatibility with the available historical visual material. Afterward, the study used newly-accessed sources to confirm the likelihood of one of the two scenarios. Starting with a brief introduction on daily life and the use of material cultural elements in the Ottoman poetic tradition, the article presents a description of how the poet Aski of Uskudar represented objects in his poems, which is followed by a discussion of what the depicted object could signify with reference to the gazel under study. Along with factual information that brings a clear answer to the research question, the final section provides examples of the description of zant as reflected in the accounts of 15th-century Western travelers, as well as in Ottoman miniatures, illustrations of furusiyya [equestrian martial exercises] texts, and paintings by Venetian Renaissance artists such as Bellini, Carpaccio, and Mansueti.