Theories Of The Gift

The photographic album sent by Sultan Abdülhamid II to the United States can be better understood through Marcel Mauss' theory of gift exchange. He explains that giving, recieving, and reciprocating a gift all carry ambiguous relations  of friendship and rivalry, altruism and competition. By offering the U.S. a carefully curated photo album, the Sultan initiated the cycle that Mauss discusses; the gift appeared to be generous, but it also strategically projected the Empire's wealth, order, and modernization-- especially in its military, transportation systems, and educational programs.  Although the album's intention was to help establish freindlier political standings, it also carried a competetive spirit. It almost shows off in a way, showing America they were so wrong about the country and it actually might boast superirortiy in some areas. Also, by reciveing the gift the U.S. is not obligated to reciprocate the geusture in some way. The Empire hoped reciprocation would come in the form of American officals reconsidering their preconcived notions of the country and acknolowdigng its modernization and order. 

Although the Ottoman photobook albums sent by Sultan Abdülhamid II were conceived as diplomatic gifts rather than commercial products, they were nonetheless produced through fully commodified systems of labor, technology, and exchange. The photographers, scenes, resources, cameras, paper, and printing techniques that made these images possible were embedded within global capitalist markets. These photographs thus occupy a double position: they function as political representations of empire while also existing as material commodities shaped by systems of production and circulation. In this way, each image reflects not only the modern appearance of the Ottoman state, but also its deep entanglement in the economic logics of industrial modernity. Therefore it also represents the term "Commodity Fetishism" brought by Marx.

Sydney Mintz's ideas help explain how the Ottoman phtographic album not only as a gift but also an object tied to power and global heirarchy. She argues that material goods are intentionally crafted to produced to shape perceptions. The Album is no exception, by showcasing images of modernity in the empire wishes to change peoples perspective on the state. Mintz also emphasizes that socities operate with unequal glboal systems, and that the Ottoman empire wanted to push back agaisnt agaisnt the backward and weak stereotypes pushed onto them by the west. The album is carefully produced symbol of the evolution  of the Empire that tried to reshape the Ottoman's position and rpeutation on a global scale. This idea is in accordance of Mintz's theory that produced objects carry status indicators with them.