Constructions of Spaces of Music in Istanbul
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ÉOCARREFOUR VOL 78 2/2003 147 Volkan AYTAR Constructions of Spaces of Music in State University of New York at Binghamton Istanbul : Scuffling and Intermingling Azer KESKIN Sounds in a Fragmented Metropolis State University of New York at Binghamton "Did it start with Bergson or before ? Space was the pauperized or the nouveaux riches tried to A B S T R A C T treated as the dead, the fixed, the undialectical, the sneak in the places they really did not belong to. Superimposed on a highly immobile. Time, on the contrary was richness, We argue that it is in the superimposition of those heterogeneous social fecundity, life, dialectic" conflicting narratives of the city’s history one could texture further shaped by Fo u c a u l t, 1980, in Soja 1999, p. 10 find hints to comprehend the complex successive waves of in- m u s i c s c a p e s 3 of Istanbul. Now let us provide migration, Istanbul’s urban "Music is an omnipresent, almost atmospheric, some "moments" of clash and symbolic policy shifted from a state- property of public space in the city, in cafés, night- representations within these musicscapes in order centered to a more clubs, baths, brothels, shops, buses, taxis, and to exemplify the various and at times conflicting entrepreneurial approach constructions of spaces of music in Istanbul. since the mid-1980s. dolmus (shared taxis), providing a continual Concurrently, as the counterpoint to the rhythms of everyday life" URBAN REFORM AND MODERNIZATION : contestation of the urban St o k e s , 1992, p. 1 space became more strident, SYMBOLIC SCENES OF THE CAFE, KAHVEHANE the interplay of the facets of "[F]rom the moment the [Turkish] Republic was AND MEYHANE political, economic and founded, music was given pride of place in policies cultural/symbolic change relating to culture and art, a kind of ‘target’ as If we would start discussing Istanbul’s attempt of created interesting leaders sought to fashion a new sort of citizen and reform itself - which some of her human actors configurations and a new nation-state" espoused in order to be prepared for the coming constellations. In a parallel Te k e l i o g l u, 1996, p. 196 of a new age of a more inter-connected world, development, since the threatening its previous structure - it is best to take urban identities in Istanbul We claim that one needs to chart the symbolic the Tanzimat period (1839-56) as a more or less turned more fragmented meaning of Istanbul’s urban space as it stood on a meaningful point. This period covering and hybrid from the mid- complex human geography throughout its institutional measures to "Reform" the Ottoman 1 1980s, the cultural/symbolic h i s t o r y , by also taking into consideration short- régime was intended towards revitalizing the struggle to define the urban term episodes, twists, ruptures and discontinuities, Empire by creating a state and an administration space also translated into or muting the specificities and contingencies of to which Christians, as well as Muslims could feel myriad particular ways in human or social actors. This temporal/spatial loyalty. which the urban musical approach will be complemented with a discussion 4 places are thought of, of the major developments in economy, politics, The experimental district of Pera , in this sense, imagined, and experienced. culture and society both in Turkey and in Istanbul. was a creative force in urban reform, surpassing Various musical styles far beyond its role in transmitting the European stemming from (and The history of Istanbul does not stand as an conceptions and techniques of municipal frequently combining isolated urban history, but a history of both an administration to the other sections of the city and elements of both) rural and Imperial and post-Imperial experience, and a to the provinces (Rosenthal, 1980). Pera both urban backdrops (such as history of a marvelous social arena full of worked as the reformers’ scrapbook for the new Arabesk, Taverna, Fantezi, conflicting, diverging and converging symbolic conjuncture that the Empire was then facing, and Turkish pop), as well as meanings. To read Istanbul’s histories (or stories) forcing the state officials to recognize European numerous "engagé" forms provides us with powerful insights leading to powers’ protection over its own non-Muslim of popular music (left-wing, many sub-stories and narratives and clarifying s u b j e c t s ; and a pivotal point of western far-nationalist, and Islamist many of the prolonged cultural and symbolic rifts modernization to have a hitherto unattained level variants of "Özgün Müzik"), in Istanbul. of impact upon heterogeneous Ottoman society, and global and localized altering its former balances and creating new global forms (rock, blues, Most of those narratives, we would claim are tensions in it. jazz, hip-hop, salsa, techno, based on a feeling of volatility, coupled with Pera emerged as an enclave, a stronghold of and any combination of anxieties over urban space and places. The "modernizing" tendencies, a locus of training, if not those thereof) blossomed, traditionalist conservatives of the ailing Ottoman recruitment, for the western-minded reformist creating spaces, locations Empire and the new Republic were worried about state élites who were for most of the time in and establishments where the impact of westernization that gained pace conflict with traditionalist Palace members. It also these kinds of music could since early to mid-19t h century. Spatial was an entertainment enclave of non-Muslims, be heard, and turned polarizations pitting "traditional" and "modern" especially Jews, Greeks, Armenians and Istanbul’s streets into a neighborhoods and districts were a frequent topic Levantines (although their residences were not symbolic battleground. in conservative literary and social imagery2. This paper attempts to necessarily limited to this section of the city), Modernizers themselves equally experienced which, from the Tanzimat period on, with the comprehend the parameters similar feelings of anxiety and volatility, however. of this cultural-symbolic pretext of the foreign protection on them, were Seeing westernizing reforms as the only solution increasingly seen as the "fifth division" of the contestation from within a to the problems of an ailing Empire (and later the historical and spatial foreign impact and intervention, especially in the new, promising Republic) and its major city, conservative discourse5. perspective, and connect modernizers felt uneasy whenever "backward" those to a more general masses targeted the enclaves of their stapled Pera, with its numerous meyhane (wine houses) discussion on the links lifestyles, whenever the "reactionaries" tried to owned and operated by non-Muslim minorities between sounds, social shut down or transform the city’s spaces of was a colorful district, one of the focal points of construction of space and entertainment and consumption, and whenever entertainment. A. Ince claims non-Muslim 148 VOL 78 2/2003 Constructions of Spaces of Music in Istanbul entrepreneurs of that time could be seen as calls, in the sphere of music, the "West-East the city identities. This way, "cultural intermediaries" à la P. Bourdieu, acting as synthesis" (1996). A. Ince similarly argues that in we strive to move beyond cultural mediators (due to their commercial and the Republican period music and entertainment the facile dichotomies of the cultural contacts with the West) for Muslim and sectors were shaped according to the reformist traditional versus the non-Muslim bourgeoisie alike (Ince, 2002, p. 107). tradition of the nation-state (Ince, 2002, p. 107). m o d e r n ; the local versus An account of the Istanbul cafés during the late The top-down, state-controlled synthesis the global, essentializing nineteenth century provides some useful discusses by O. Tekelioglu incorporated various notions usually deployed evidences to the cultural cleavages, the tensions projects, such as banning of radio broadcasting of while studying the non- between élite cafés at Pera and popular traditional Turkish music of Ottoman origin (due to its western societies such as kahvehane, that is, Turkish-style coffeehouses identification of the Palace, a relic of the past) ; the Turkey. We argue for the (Georgeon, 1992). Similarly, M. Altun claims that in suppression of Tekke Müzigi (ceremonial music of existence of more fluid, 1 9 t h century Istanbul, a l a f r a n g a (a la franca, some Islamic sects), and religious music overall complex and interconnected meaning modern, western-style) entertainment (which could partly explain the absence of forms such as the patterns were introduced and gained currency in religious music in urban spaces during the localization of modernity the face of previous, alaturka (a la Turca, meaning Republican era) ; the promotion of polyphony (Smith and Bender, 2001) Turkish-style, more traditional) forms6. However, among the masses through the extensive use and the localization of the other studies also remind us of the fact that radio waves ; launching of the government- global (or "glocalization" à la alaturka and alafranga patterns did not necessarily sponsored ballroom dances (Tekelioglu, 1996, R. Robertson). Also, we signify binary opposites, and especially as they p . 197), where western-style dances such as waltz argue that the constructions were experienced, allowed a lot of fluidity and were staple items ; and the standardization, of spaces of music need to contingency (Duben, Behar, 1991). collection, polyphonization and archivization of the be thought of in relation to Folk (or People’s) music. the symbolic acts of Istanbul, in the early decades of 20t h c e n t u r y , inclusion and exclusion. found itself in a situation of significantly A re-spatialization of the music and entertainment heterogeneous social structure while the City was localities went hand in hand with the top-down KEY WORDS at the same time, became the immediate haven for cultural policies.