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The Visibility and Legitimacy of Mevlevi Ceremonies in Modern Turkey

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The Visibility and Legitimacy of Mevlevi Ceremonies in Modern Turkey HOW DOES PROHIBITION STOP WORKING? THE VISIBILITY AND LEGITIMACY OF MEVLEVİ CEREMONIES IN MODERN TURKEY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES OF İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY BY BURCU SAĞLAM IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2017 ABSTRACT HOW DOES PROHIBITION STOP WORKING? THE VISIBILITY AND LEGITIMACY OF MEVLEVİ CEREMONIES IN MODERN TURKEY Sağlam, Burcu MA in Sociology Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Nurullah Ardıç September 2017, 124 pages Sufism has been officially banned in the Turkish Republic since 1925, which includes all Sufi orders, their lodges and rituals, and naturally, the Mevlevi order is no exception. Interestingly, however, the semâ ceremony of the Mevlevi order has turned out to be a cultural and touristic show that supposedly represents Turkish culture. The “whirling dervish” has become an iconic figure, frequently used in national touristic advertisements. Moreover, annual commemorations in honor of Mevlânâ Celaleddin Rumi, the founder of Mevlevi Sufi order, are attended by the highest state authorities every year. The research question of my thesis is how legitimacy and visibility of Mevlevi semâ ceremonies have been changed after the ban in 1925. I limited my work to the ceremonies in Konya performed in every December since the 1940s, the most popular and central celebration event on Rumi’s death anniversary called “Şeb-i Arus” (means “wedding night”). Effective actors in this field are; the Turkish Republic’s apparatuses including relevant statesmen and institutions, members of the Mevlevî order, performers of the ceremonies, people interested in Rumi and Mevlevîlik for scientific, intellectual and touristic reasons, especially from the US and Europe, mass media and non-governmental organizations. I explored and discussed both tensions and accommodation between these actors throughout the history of Turkish Republic. Keywords: Turkish Modernization, Sufism, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, Sema Ceremony, Mevlevi Order, Authenticity iv ÖZ YASAK NASIL İŞLEVSELLİĞİNİ KAYBEDER? MODERN TÜRKİYE’DE MEVLEVİ AYİNLERİNİN GÖRÜNÜRLÜĞÜ VE MEŞRUİYETİ Sağlam, Burcu Sosyoloji Yüksek Lisans Programı Tez Danışmanı: Doç. Dr. Nurullah Ardıç Eylül 2017, 124 sayfa Türkiye Cumhuriyeti yasalarına göre tasavvuf 1925’ten beri yasaktır ve bu yasak tüm tarikatları, onların tekkelerini ve ritüellerini kapsamaktadır. Mevlevî tarikatı da diğerleri gibi bu yasaktan etkilenmiştir. Fakat ilginç bir şekilde, Mevlevî tarikatına ait semâ törenleri Türk kültürünü temsil eden kültürel ve turistik bir gösteriye dönüşmüştür. Semazen figürü ikonlaşmış, Türkiye’yi tanıtan turistik reklamlarda sıkça kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Öte yandan, Mevlevî tarikatının kurucusu Mevlânâ Celâleddin Rumî’yi anmak için her yıl düzenlenen anma törenleri devletin en üst kademesindekilerin her yıl katıldığı bir etkinliğe dönüşmüştür. Bu noktada, tezimin temel araştırma sorusu Mevlevî semâ törenlerinin meşruiyeti ve görünürlüğünün 1925 yasağından sonra nasıl değiştiğidir. Bu çalışmayı daha popüler, düzenli ve merkezî bir organizasyon olması sebebiyle 1940’lardan beri her aralık ayında Konya’da düzenlenen Şeb-i Arus Mevlânâ anma törenleri ile sınırlandırıyorum. Bu alanda etkili aktörleri şöyle sıralıyorum: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin ilgili devlet adamları ve kurumları dahil müdahale araçları, Mevlevi tarikatına mensup kişiler, törenlerde rol alanlar, Mevlânâ ile bilimsel, düşünsel yahut turistik olarak ilgilenen bilhassa ABD’li ve Avrupalı kişiler, kitle iletişim araçları ve sivil toplum örgütleri. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti tarihi boyunca bu aktörler arasındaki gerilim ve uyum dengeleri incelenmiş ve tartışılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Türk Modernleşmesi, Tasavvuf, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, Sema Törenleri, Mevlevi Tarikatı, Otantisite v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Nurullah Ardıç for his infinite support. In the last three years, he taught me thinking and writing more analytically and showed me my faults and lacks with his quick and detailed feedbacks. This thesis would not be completed without his guidance and encouragement. I am grateful to Prof. Cem Behar and Dr. Onur Güneş Ayas for their precious comments as jury members of this thesis. Cem Hoca supported me and taught me a lot during his music history course and our conversations. Thanks for everything! I would like to thank Dr. Alim Arlı for his great contributions in terms it’s the theoretical framework of this work. Moreover, he made another contribution by guiding me to Celaleddin Çelik for my interviews. Celaleddin Çelik greatly helped me organize my interviews and his grandmother, Ismahan Teyze accepted me as a guest at her home in Konya. I am grateful to both of them. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to my friends from Konya, Merve Nur Kayhan and Taha Çalışır, who helped me to reach my interviewees. Also, I owe thanks to my friend Beyza Ceran and her mother Şükran Ceran for their hospitality. Moreover, I am grateful to all of my interviewees, they significantly raised the value of this work with their contributions. I would like to thank my friends from Şehir University for providing a warm environment and moral support. At this point, a special gratitude goes to Ferzan Aşık and Ayşe Berre Karaman for their editorial contributions. Also, I am grateful to my parents for their understanding and patience. They always supported me in terms of my academic pursuits. Finally, I would like to thank TÜBİTAK for supporting my master’s study at Istanbul Şehir University with a full scholarship. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................................................................................................... iv Öz ................................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ........................................................................................................vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................... x List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................xi CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1. The Problem and Rationale ............................................................................... 1 1.2. The Literature and Methodology ...................................................................... 4 1.3. Organization ...................................................................................................... 9 2. EVOLUTION OF MEVLEVILIK AND SEMÂ ................................................................ 11 2.1. Mevlânâ Celâleddîn Rûmî and the Mevlevî Order .......................................... 11 2.1.1. Traditional Transmission and Legitimacy ................................................. 12 2.1.2. Rumi Commemorations: Şeb-i Arûs ......................................................... 14 2.2. Turkish Modernization and Sufism .................................................................. 15 2.2.1. Sufis and the Ottoman Modernization ..................................................... 15 2.2.2. Sufis and the New Regime ........................................................................ 17 3. NEGOTIATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF SEMÂ ......................................... 20 3.1. Actors Negotiating the Sema: the State, NGOs and Mevlevis ........................ 20 3.1.1. Examining the Turkish State as an Actor .................................................. 20 3.1.2. Actors of the Ceremonies ......................................................................... 22 3.1.2.1. Organization ...................................................................................... 22 3.1.2.1.1. Statesmen and State Institutions ............................................... 22 3.1.2.1.2. NGOs and Organizers ................................................................. 25 3.1.2.2. Performers: Semâzens and Musicians .............................................. 26 3.1.2.3. The Audience..................................................................................... 28 3.1.2.3.1. Media ......................................................................................... 28 3.1.2.3.2. Tourism ...................................................................................... 29 3.2. Bureaucratization and “Co-optation” of the Sema ......................................... 30 3.2.1. The Inclusion Process: Adoption of Mevlevi Semâ by the State............... 30 vii 3.2.2. Mevlevi Approaches to the State and the Ban ......................................... 35 3.2.3. The State’s Perception of the Commemoration Ceremonies .................. 45 3.2.3.1. Politics and Sufism in Turkey: Nonpolitical or Political, Moderate or Radical ............................................................................................................ 45 3.2.3.2. The Legalization of Semâ Ceremonies .............................................. 51 3.2.3.3. The Privatization Policies, Commodification and Semâ .................... 52 3.2.3.4. Rumi Commemorations Today: Power and Legitimacy ...................
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