Ambiguous . Nasreddin Hoca, Afandi and Studies In geborg Fh1ld aur

There are two rcmarkablc situations I remembcr when musin g on lolk narrati ve research. In onc or thl.:111 Ulri ch Marzolph plays a ccntral ro lc, in thc oth cr hc dol.:sn't. The oth cr unl'oldcd in Oxlord's venerable 13odl eian l ,ibrary, wh erc I was sittin g and reading ror the plcasure o r it a manusc ript or thl.: .Jä111i ' ul-f1ik ä ,•u type. Lat l.: r on uvl.:r dinnl.:r a coll eagul.: rl.:marked that ror the lirst time in hi s lilc he hacl scen sornebudy \augh in th e 13 odl eian readi ng rourn ; that alien was 111e . The lirst scene was an occasional encuunter or our jubilarian, rn yself, ancl an old l'riend or ours, a practical practitioner of lolklorc at it s warst, who in response to one casua ll y mentioned narrative motir ca mc up with a bunch o r dirty jokes in wh ich that muti r was elaborated. Whilc two o r us werc still struggling to regain our composure, onc u r us took down a l'ew licldnotes. 1

1-"o lk oraturc and popular litcrature may ha vc bcen lirst invented lor li stcncrs' and rcadcrs' amuse mcnt but scholarship is a seri ous matter. l{uilding bridgcs bctwcl.:n th ese worlds apart, and demonstrating to what degree ideol ogies and cultural politics or sorts have intruclecl int o thi s de li cate relationship as a third sct o r major detcnninants, is onc ur Ulri ch Mar;,.olph 's lasting mcrit s. 1l e has drawn uur att cntion to thc qucstion il' rolkl ore ca n bc im agin ed as bclongin g to anyune, and ir so, who that should be th ose who gcnerate and practise it, or thosc.: (politicians or activi sts ) who "propagate l'olklore lor specil'i c

1:nr a r1·uit orthat sct.: 1H; d. Ma1·wlph, U lrich: lJcr Sc hi t.: kr und die Fla st.: ht.: . /.ur l{c1:1.: ptiun t.: incr arnbisc hcn t\nckdotc in dcr pcrsisc hcn mysti sc hcn Dichtung. In: Oricn, 12 ( I')')()) 12-l - l 1X, rn .12. lngehorg, !J11/da11/ purposes" ,~ or th osc who ctern al izc it through sc ri ptura Iizat ion. prcscrvation, in vcsti gati on and so on. - In fact. it seems as if thc ownership qucstion could bc answcrcd onl y in one meani ngfu l way: /\ II o r th esc parti cs arc co-owners sin ce in cntanglccl ways th ey all coopcrate in bringing about fo lkl ore as wc know it. In the universe or l'o lklorc, tcxts cann ot be trackcd down to one aut horit ative ve rsion. nor can ultimatc authority bc claim cd l'or any one oJ' the rcadings givcn, or meanings ascribecl to it . Some Turkish l'ölkl orists have come to rcplaec th e noti on of va ri ant by e.y 111 elin.' lit crn ll y 'co-text'. wh ich rendcrs thi s icl ca o f' "alternative truths" quite nea tl y.

Thosc who just "do" fo lkl orc secm to lrnvc lit tle problems with th e abscncc o r authoritati vc tex ts - th ey may try 10 co rnpete for suprcmaey within th cir kincl by outdoing one dirty jokc hy an even more dirty onc and a wonclrous talc by a more wond rous onc, or thcy may givc the ir own story a little twist that makes it "hetter" than th e onc to ld by somconc eise. Even in as hi ghl y competitive a genre as th e Ccntra l J\sian aq111 l askivo sin gin g cont est th e goal ol' a pcrf'orm ance is onl y to outwit onc's compclitors, not 10 outrule th em. J\s soon as icl cologists joi n th c convcrsation, however. things turn clillicult. We remcrnber two dccadcs or power game arouncl the puhlication oJ' Pertcv Na i Ii Boratav's Nasreddin l locc,: Thc firs\ and second ed il ion (Junc ancl July 1996) hacl lo be withdrawn J'rom th e book nrnrkct. 13oratav's all cged trespass consistecl in publishing Nasrccldi n I loca stori cs originating from manuseripts o r th c I c/'- 1<}'1 ' cenluri cs. J'rom ea rl y Iith ographs, and fr om oral handed down by poels :md scholars, without editing languagc or content. The manuscript storics rc fl ect thc modes o r times whcn society was (or a\ least scll11 c

Cl'. l'or cxarnp lc U lrich Marzo lph : "Whut 1s 1:olk lore (iood 1:or? On l ka li1 1g with Und cs irab lc Cu ltural l ·: xprcss io11" . Journal ol' 1:olklore Research 35( 1)(1998): 5- 16: 5. l'chlivun. Ciürol. Mi,.aha Vahdct-i Vücud pcnccre sinden hakmak : Sa lf1h i' 11i11 ~crh-i nutk-1 Nasrccldin l:lcncli acll1 ri sa lcs i. In : Milli Fo lklorTurkey at th e e nd o r thc 20'11 century d eem e cl "ßoratav's Nasreddin l loea", as it would bc call ecl, to bc too o ffe ns ive as to bc c ircul atcd in thc public.·1 t\ ll egecll y ill -willing lo lklo ri sts were - th at is, Boratav was by othe rs bl am ed w ith having de libe rate ly di sto rt ed "our l loca"; one l'ö lk lorist w ith a n a po loge ti c a pproac h wenl as far as suggesting to red ucc by ha lf the corpus, whic h to hi s understa nding had by 13 oratav, but a lso by the t'olk s been irri spo ns ibl y contaminated w ith a li en mate ri a l. The goal o l' this puril'icati o n was to resto rc th e l loca, and togcth cr wi th him thc community he a ll eg edly stands l'o r, to hi s di sgraeed ho no r a nd purity . /\ ll egati o ns o l' a bus ing th c I loea lo r promo ti ng croti c obscenity a nd a ntic lc ri cal s-:: ntime nt werc in th e a ir. '

Unsurpris in g ly, d isag rccme nt a bo ut w hat is des irable in a protago ni st and what is not, o r in a brnade r sense, w he rc the bo rde rs o f th..: unthinkabl e a nd unspeakablc sho uld bc d rawn, is as o ld as the sto ri es th emsclves." Evcn the o th erwisc prc tty fra nk carl y a utho r o f the manuscri pt fr o m w hi c h Boratav took hi s sto ry no. 19 17 had no t

1:or a bri cl' di scu ss ion ol' thc hi stm y o!' th e print, w ithdrawal and linal n.:­ print in 200(,, er. l'ay;a, l lalit: lloratav'111 Sak 111 ca '1 Nasn: ttin l loca's 1. http://11 ww .gcn.:e kcdcbiyat. co111 /hahcr-dctay/hora1av i n-sak i nca l i-nasrcdd in­ lm casi-ha l it-payza/20')9 (8 Junc.20 17). h1r a co 111prchcnsivc sun1111c1t')' o!' th l.: deha tl.: that cul111in atl.: d in l'l'J S- 97, ,cl.: (iörkl.:lll, is111a il : Nasrcddin l loca olg usun un alg tl anm as1 Vl' anla111 land1nl111 as1 ['11.crinc. In: T ü1·kbi lig 23 (20 12 ) 8:1- 106; th c q uotcs rclatc 10 (ifükcm's chap tcr on th c ll> ik lorist Sa i111 Sakaog lu. This ohsc rv,1tion has hccn pu l forw ard by ll m atav as carly as 1987 (c l'. llmatav 1<)<)(i : 30). 1 1 rcl'cr tu th c 2'" cdition o !' 13 oratav, l'crt cv Naili : Nasrcddin l loca . /\ nka ra ( l ·: dcbiyatc; ilcir l)crn cg i Yay 1nl an ) 1996 : p. 140. U n fortunatc ly provcnanc..: i~ onl y indii.: atcd ll lr somc o !' th c storics (not lln 19 1) ; th c bulk o l' thc ll.::\I S is 1·ro111 l 7'"- 18'" ci.: nt ury manusc ri pt s. lng

A m anusc ript including 14 7 Nasrcdd in I loca stori cs, clat ing rrom 9 1777 , concludes w ith another rcmarkablc paratcxtual commcnt : "Thcrc cx ist somc so und (.~·aliTb) lcgcnds about th c l loca. 13ut most or th cm arc allega tion ·. " 111 T his commcnt teils us very clca rly th at authcnticity o f thc tcxt and rcliability o r th c tradition matt crccl to th c tra nsmitter (who may havc cut his tcc th 0 11 (wdTs scholarship), but it doc not teil us if his doubts about the provcnancc or somc othcr stori es had perhaps Jed him to exclude thesc l'rom hi s compilation. Nor would th e commcnt teil us what it was that had raiscd his doubt s,

Tanr1' y1bon ,: lu cy lcyc111 . Fm a short clcscription ofthc manu sc ript prcscrvcd in th c 1.ihrary of A11kara Üni vcrs itcs i l)il-Tarih-Cogra fya 1:akültcsi , et'. llorat av 19%: 70. 10 l loca'111 11 baz1 ~a l)Ti) 111 c11 äq1blcri va rd 1r. Am rn ii cksc ri si bUht änd1r; quntnl alter Boratav 1996: :?. :?.. Nosrecldi11 l lorn. 11/1///di u11cl Folklore Studie.,· so th at wc can not kn ow il'hc had possibly cxcludcd blas ph cmic stories known to him, or absurd ones, or yet ot hcrs w hich d id not eon form to his imag ination o t· th e authentic l loca. O ne thing thc comment teils us lo r sure, 0 11 th c other hand, is that as carly as the 18'1, ccntury, way beton; thc inli ltration o r O ttoman fo lk lon; studics w ith romant ico­ mora I ist Europcan purism , thcrc ex istcd an autochthonous understan ding of', and _judgmcnt about which storics could bc ri ghtfu lly attributed to Nasrcddin l l oca and w hich ones eouldn't. This ex isting inclinati on to rcconstruct traclition w hether by siknt cli sa pprova l or by ae ti vcly exclucling somc elcm cnts f'rom the tracl ition and/or rcpl ae ing th cm by m orc appropriate ones may have pa ved th e way lo r th e ensuing proccss o r res haping thc stork-like Nasreclclin l loea corpu s into a dcccnt bi rd .

This rcilica ti on process has morc rcccntly cu lminatcd in Saim Sakaoglu's suggestion to disentang lc w hat he rcads as the l l oca's multiple perso nalitics, and to sort out the corpus w hich Sakaog lu interp rets as consisting or a genuine stock that dcpicts " our l l oca" - a pcrlcctly w ise, w illy and innocent champion o J'Turkish f'olklori sm , wc rni ght say - , and u/ien elcments w hich lolk s have com e to mistakcnly altributc to that amicablc character, as it wcre:

(io out 0 11 th L: strL:et and ask our pL:opk what th L: y unckrstand as Nas1u ldin I lorn _jokL:s. You will SL:L: that 111 os t oi' th L: _jok L:s thL: y w ill 11 l L: 11 are j okL:s that dcm'L hclong to him .

By say ing so, Sa im Sakaoglu conlirms that thc oral Nasrcdcl in l l oca tradition or today is not in line w ith thc imagc clrawn by cu ltura l acti vists (and some fo lklori sts) who arc promoting thc I l oca as a local,

II "Soka ga c,:1 k11111., insa1111111 1.a Nas rL: ddin I loca t'1ki-a s1 olarak nL: IL: ri bildigini Sl>runu 1. . Onlann anlatacag1 !'1kra lar111 c,: ogunlugunu n onun n l111 aya n i'1kralar oldugun u göi"L:cck siniz" (Sakaoglu , Saim : (, 'ok Ki 1nlikli NasrL: ddin l luca 'da11 Tck Ki111 lik li Nas rcddin I loca 'ya. In : 1. Uluslarara s1 /\k~ L: hir Nasn.: ddi11 l loca Sempozy umu ( ll il gi ~ö lcn i) 6-7 Tc1rnn u,. :rno s. /\k~chir (/\k~chir lk kdiycs i Kl'lltür Yay111la r1 ) 200 5. 68-70:70; quotL:d alter (iörk rn1 20 12: 1J'l) /11gehorg /J ulda11r 245 cthnic, nati onal or w hatcvcr hcro. O nc coulcl o r coursc turn th c arg urncnt upsidc down and say th at thc imagc w hich is bcing cl rawn 1 fo r various icl cologica l ancl cconomic cncl s ~ is not in linc w ith th c li v ing oral tra cliti on. M ost storics about Nasrccldi11 l loca (a 11cl his countcrparts in oth cr languages likc Mulla Na~ridcl,n. /\ landi, .lul_iä ... ) w hich are in actual oral circulation havc scx ually obsccn c, sca to logica l or absurd plots, or a mixturc o f th csc, and cl cpcnding on th c circurnstanccs o r the perforrnancc, th cir w ording va ri cs from allusivc to straightlo rwarcl or ribald. Thcy arc frcquc11tl y told. but who is going to count th c 111 . Oro /11re docs not cas ily stand a chancc aga inst th c w ritten worcl .

The bulk o r printed and cli g itizccl material today, on thc oth cr hand. 111 irrors exactly thc " w itty moral champion" imagc. and comcs in cl owngraded or complctcly sa nitizcd languagc. Thc j okcs o lk11 co 11t ain introductory or conclucling tcxtual clcmcnt s w hich. whcn comparcd w ith contemporary oral matcri als or w rittcn matcrials from carlicr periods, appca r to bc o r paratcxtual nature (cxpl anations and/or intcrprctations); today thcy come as integral pa rt s o fthc bas ic tcx t.

lnclccd, the clcavage bctwccn the oral and th e scriptura l tra dition o r tocl ay is striking, in contcnt as weil as languagc. This obscrva ti on is - pcrhaps unintcntionally - contracli ctcd by a rcrnark in a small Turkish stucly on "thc pow er o r thc word in N asrcclclin I loca j okcs ": With thcir poctry- likc mann cr oi' cx prcss ion and th c short and dcnsc rn ca nings th cy contain, thc jokc s airn at convcy ing th cir 111 cssagc to 13 th c rca dcr in a straight and u;1mi stakabl c way.

1~ l'or a cl ctailcd stucl y 0 11 thc brancling or Nasrcddi n I loca tmlay. sec Ka hvcc i. Zcyncp Nagihan: Ciünümü zdc ya~aya n Nas rcdclin l loca i111 gcs i ( Yüksck Li sa ns Tczi, (jazi Üni vcrsit cs i) 201 5. :;;cnoca k, l:bru. Nasrcclclin l loca' n1n r, kra lannda süzü n gücii. n.d.1410 - 1504 : 1483. 2-16 Nusredcli 11 1/ocu. , l.fi111di und Folklore S111die.1· W hat th e aulhor o l' that study is actually w riting abo ul is to rn y undcrstanding not thc quality o l' 1vri11e 11 Nasrcddin l l oca (ancl o ther) .i okcs, but 0 1· oral ones - w hich arc no t gcarccl o n a "rca cl cr" , but o n listencrs. Conc iseness is indccd onc o l' thc primc lcaturcs o f' a good ora l _j okc and versa tile j okcrs o l' loday obscrve thc rulc o l' brevity, density ancl swi ftness. The texts fro m m ost o l' today's collectio ns, o n th c other hand, arc any thing but conc isc comparcd w ith the laconic va riants l'rom ca rlicr corpora ; m any o r th crn arc striking ly wordy and contain all k inds o l' rctarding c lem cnts. O nc cxample m ay sunice to illustrn te this de-r octic iz ing phcnom cnon. Thc "paratcx tual" elem ents - w hich in lact arc today m crgcd into thc bas ic text - arc i'or demonstration pul in brackcts hcrc: IGünkrdcn bir gün üi,; ay lard a m1 , bq ay larda m1 o lundugunu i,; 1kara 111 aya nl hir adam I loca'ya: "/\y üi,;c 111idir, yoksa bqc mi'1" dcy in cc lloca, li l'a dcdck i kullan1m ho1.uklugun a k m tra k:J "Bilmcm , 11 so n 1.a111 anlarda ay al1 p sa ll1 g1m yok. " diyc lccvap vcrirl . '

Whcn nnc day a man J w ho was unablc to ligurc out w hcth er they wcrc in lhc 'moon-in -lhrec' or 'rn oon-in-livc' I askcd thc l lnca, "ls th c 111 0011 lo- thrcc ur to- livc", hc Jgol angry w ith th c way thc say ing w as

distortcd in th c ph rasc andJ rcs pondcd, " I don't knnw, 1 ha vc not so ld a llltHl ll lhcsc days."

For compariso n, herc is a va ri ant from a o nc-ccntury o lder collcctio n 1 (by V clccl ('clcbi i1budak "11aha'i" '): 13 ir gü n l loca Na~rcddTn l~l'c ndi pa1.arda gezerkcn bir hcrTI' "l loca. Hugü n ay 1n lii,;ü mü, dördü m li" diyc sordukta " Va llahi bilmc rn ;; u gl'm lcrdc ay alip sa tt1 g 1rn yoktur" dcm i~tir.

1-1 )c110cak (11.d.: 14X 7) is quoting 1hi s lcx1 J'r om a 2004 cdi1i o11 oi' Memel h 1at's co llcct i01 1 Nasrcdd in l loca 1-'i kra l,m . p. 12:1; lhc cx pl a11 a1i o 11 oi' th c pu n, in wh ich ihc l loca "misu11d crsla 11 ds" thc 111a 11 's i11 ab ili1y tn ligurc uu1 wha t pc ri od oi' ca rl y spr ing (th c "t hrcc-1lHHl ll " etc.) they wcrc in and rcspo nds as ii'hc had ash:d Jh c pri cc, had lirsl bccn suggcsicd by l~ora ta v in a 1975 co 11l 'c rc11cc papc r (cf. IJu 1·at av 1996: 57, 51). ! i IYelcd lzbu dak lhthCt'i l l.c\ä' il-- i lluca Na~r-cd-!}111 rnl)111 a1u 1-lnhi 'alayhi . 2. J\u ll. ll sta nbu ll 192 1/ 1:l19: 18. lngehorg !Jold1111( Whcn onc day, whilc I loca Nasrcddi n l ·: l'cndi was strnlling. 011 thc hazaar, so mcbocly askccl, " 1l oca, is today th c third or thc l

13aha' 'i has in fact alterecl many tex ts - yct his crncndatio11 s do not rc late to ambigu ity ca use d by phrnscology, which is at stake in thi s sto ry, but to perceivecl immorality or plot and rn os t or all , to inacl cquacy or worcling. Yeled (elebi (also known by his pcn-narn c 13ah ä'I) was a scho lar w ho va lued primary resea rch - along w ith tc xts collcctccl from earlier printecl books, in his Le/ä'if~i 1/orn NosredJi11 1 ( 1909, 192 1, 1923 ) <• he included 185 /o(i/i: w hich had bccn se nt to him by friends and colleagues. He does not spccily whcrc hi s informants took the tcx ts from, maybe sorn c ca rn c J'rom rnanu sc ripts. others rrom entcrtaining rn ce tings or gcntlemcn or rank and yct oth ers ri ght from the strccts of an Ottornan provincia l town. In any casc th c ncwly collectccl texts all had to stand the critica l look or Yclcd (elcbi and thi s is perhaps why th c Janguagc or many stori cs is incrcclibl y stilted, no irnpropcr words are being use d, ancl o ffensive plots arc a bit downgradecl thc sa me way as tcxts !i·o m earl icr written so urccs arc w hich form the first part or the book. l lcrc are thrce co-tcx ts which aptl y illustrate ßaha''i's particular way to handle tex ts. First. a .iokc q uotc cl !'ro m a pre-1 9'"· century so urcc by 13orata v:

I<> Scylct tin Özcg.c's ca taloguc indi catc s only th c lirst and third cd itinns . 1 am using a 192 1 cdition wh ich docs not rcndcr thc author's 11 ;11n c. h11t is douhtl css \y th c sccond cdi ti on; it inc\u dcs 252 pagcs as opposcd tn 253 0 1· th c 1923 cdition. (Üzcgc. Mch111 ct Scylcttin: liski har llcrlc basi\1111 ~ TUrk i,:c l ·: scrl cr Kata logu. Istanbu l 19 7 1- 1980. ) 248 Nu.\TC'clcli 11 ! lou1. A/c11{( /i u11 cl Fo lk/o{'(' Sttlllies 1l oca hir gün giirür bir kc lb mcsc id ic; inc ycstchlcr. 1l oca urma k istcyücck kclb dah 1 h1rl ayup üs tinc ,1tilmak istcr. 1lo ca dah 1 17 korhus1ndan: " it hcgim itl " dcmi~. Onc day th c l lnca sccs: a dog is shitting int n th c rnosque. Whcn lhe 1ln ca wa nts lO heut it, th c dog grow ls and is gning lc1 r hirn . O ut or l'e ar th e I loca said, "l)og - Lord 1)o gl "

From a popular intcrn et collection o l'today: ll ir gün l loca hir köpcgin rncsc idin ka p1 sma i~edigini görmü~. Kovnrnk ic; in iilkcyle hayvan1n üstüne gidincc kiipek de h1rl ayarak ona gc lecek olmu~. l loca he mcn scs in i tatlil a~ t1 ra rak : "l lo~ l hey im ho~ t" . IX dc1111 ~. Onc day th c I loca saw th at a dng was piss ing at th e door o r thc 111 osque. Whcn hc was angrily go ing aboul il, th e clog aimcd al him snarlingly. l111m ediately lhc I lnca sweelcncd his voi ce and sa icl , "O IT, M ylord, ol'll " T hc Boratav tcxt bears th e m os \ ly pica l chara ctcri stics ol' oral j o k e tra clition - laconicity o l' wording paired w ith g rcates t possible o lTc nse : the pl ot goes about "shitting", and aboul cl o ing so in the m osquc, o r all places. T he plot o r th e rccent interne! text is som cwhat do m csticated , since pi ss ing is not quite as ruclc as shitting and the ac tio n has been rc locatcd to th e out side o r thc m osque. This k ind o l' cl owngrading in w rittcn fö rrn ca nnot only be obse rved in jokcs but also in provt:rbs: Whilc thc sc riplura l l slamic (and olher) lradition generally prcl'ers the ve rsion " Speech is sil vcr, silcnce is golden", neighboring ora l versio ns 1 havc becn report ed as "To speak littlc is go ld, l o talk rnut: h is mud"