ABSTRACT
The predominant discourse of national historical narratives in the Balkans has tended to represent the Ottoman Empire as a hotbed of nationalist discontent which, as a consequence, was unable to accommodate its many different communities. This discourse has overshadowed instances of conviviality in port-city communities, as distinct from their cosmopolitan setting. This chapter illustrates Ottoman banal cosmopolitanism, as developed in Salonica prior to the end of Ottoman rule, by examining two specific milieus: the local press and the urban landscape. It argues that, despite its centrifugal nationalistic dynamics, the local press promoted a dual imagined community: one part imperial and the other parochial. This chapter also argues that public places and city districts obliged the Salonicans to experience cultural diversity in their daily lives. It espouses approaches and perspectives pertaining to the study of the late Ottoman era which foreground regional and local identifications or affiliations; and it explores how cosmopolitan settings shaped the quotidian practices, lifestyles, and mindsets shared by people of diverse races, lineages, religions, and cultures.
