Bride: Comes with a Price a Visual Narrative of Bride Exchange and Child Marriage
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BRIDE: COMES WITH A PRICE A VISUAL NARRATIVE OF BRIDE EXCHANGE AND CHILD MARRIAGE by ECEM KÖKLÜKAYA Submitted to Graduate School of Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabancı University July 2019 ECEM KÖKLÜKAYA 2019 © All Rights reserved ABSTRACT BRIDE: COMES WITH A PRICE A VISUAL NARRATIVE OF BRIDE EXCHANGE AND CHILD MARRIAGE ECEM KÖKLÜKAYA Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design M.A Thesis, July 2019 Thesis Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Wieslaw Zaremba Keywords: child bride, bride exchange, bride price, child marriage The main goal of this study is to analyze child marriage and bride exchange that may apply to all women and girls regardless of their age from an artistic perspective according to the generally accepted human rights standards of the 21st century. These issues were addressed as “disturbing” elements of the society in this thesis. Therefore, artists who have experienced social problems and reflected them in their artworks are examined. Also, it is explained in this thesis that at which stage child marriages and bride exchanges have become a tradition. While human morality contradicts social realities, this study seeks to provide awareness on the public opinion and on the decision makers. Within the scope of this thesis, an animated graphics “Berdel” is composed by using the advantages of animation technique in order to raise awareness of the society and to draw attention to this tradition, in other words, this problem. iv ÖZET GELİNİN BEDELİ BERDEL VE ÇOCUK EVLİLİKLERİNİN GÖRSEL ANLATIMI ECEM KÖKLÜKAYA Görsel Sanatlar ve Görsel İletişim Tasarımı Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Temmuz 2019 Tez Danışmanı: Doç. Dr. Wieslaw Zaremba Anahtar Kelimeler: çocuk gelin, berdel, başlık parası, çocuk evlilikleri Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, yaş sınırına bakılmaksızın tüm kadın ve kız çocuklarına uygulanabilen çocuk evliliğini ve berdeli (gelin takası), 21. yüzyılın genel kabul görmüş insan hakları standartlarına göre, sanatsal bir bakış açısıyla analiz etmektir. Bu konular, bu tezde toplumun "rahatsız edici" unsurları olarak ele alınmıştır. Bu nedenle, toplumsal sorunları yaşayan ve bunları sanat çalışmalarına yansıtan sanatçılar incelenmiştir. Ayrıca, bu tezde çocuk evliliğinin ve berdelin hangi aşamada gelenek haline geldiği açıklanmıştır. İnsan ahlakı toplumsal gerçeklerle çelişirken, bu çalışma kamuoyu ve karar vericiler hakkında farkındalık sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu tez kapsamında bir animasyonlu grafik olan “Berdel", animasyon tekniğinin avantajları kullanılarak toplumun farkındalığını arttırmak ve bu geleneğe, başka bir deyişle, bu soruna dikkat çekmek için oluşturulmuştur. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Since I have started out to do this project, for being always with me and for their endless support; First of all, to my precious family; my mom, my dad, my sisters and my grandmothers who have always been praying for me, To my dear supervisors; Wieslaw Zaremba and Yoong Wah Alex Wong To my lovely friends; Halil Eren, Meysera Uzuner, Didem Toy, Nisa Akbulut, Ali Cem Batmansu, Esil Ölge, and Onur Günan, Thank you. Without you, this thesis would not even exist. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 2. GENERAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 4 2.1. Matriarchy to Patriarchy ................................................................................... 4 2.2. Bride Price and Purchase Marriage .................................................................. 6 3. BRIDE EXCHANGE AND CHILD MARRIAGE .............................................. 8 3.1. Berdel (Bride Exchange): Ordered Bodies ....................................................... 8 3.2. The Geographical Dilemmas of Child Marriage ............................................ 12 4. CAUSES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE .................. 14 4.1. Causes of Child Marriage ............................................................................... 14 4.2. Poverty ............................................................................................................ 15 4.2.1. Lack of Education ....................................................................................... 17 4.2.2. Socio-cultural Factors ................................................................................. 18 4.3. Negative Impacts of Child Marriage on Children .......................................... 19 5. VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF “DISTURBANCE” .................................. 20 6. BERDEL AND REPRESENTATION OF CHILD MARRIAGE AND BRIDE EXCHANGE ................................................................................................................. 34 7. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 51 PRIMARY SOURCES ................................................................................................. 53 SECONDARY SOURCES ........................................................................................... 56 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................... 59 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 5.1 The Third of May 1808, Francisco de Goya, 1814, Oil on Canvas, 266 cm x 345 cm ............................................................................................................................ 21 Figure 5.2 Stigmata Detail of The Third of May 1808 ................................................... 21 Figure 5.3 Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco de Goya, 1819-1823, oil mural transferred to canvas 143cm x 81 cm ............................................................................. 24 Figure 5.4 Saturn Devouring His Son, Peter Paul Rubens, 1636, oil on canvas ............ 25 Figure 5.5 The Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, 1819 ...................................... 27 Figure 5.6 Four Studies of a Severed Head, Théodore Géricault ................................... 27 Figure 5.7 The Calling of St Matthew, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio ................ 28 Figure 5.8 Soraya, whilst stoning, The Stoning of Soraya M. ........................................ 29 Figure 5.9 Stoning scene in The Stoning of Soraya M. .................................................. 30 Figure 5.10 Stoning scene in The Stoning of Soraya ..................................................... 30 Figure 5.11 “Zina”, Şükran Moral, Perform art, 2003 .................................................... 31 Figure 5.12 “Love and Violance”, Şükran Moral, Perform art, 2009 ............................. 32 Figure 5.13 “Child Bride”, Şükran Moral, Installation, 2014......................................... 32 Figure 5.14 “Tales to a Young Girl”, Şükran Moral, Video Installation, 2014 .............. 33 Figure 6.1 The woman, startup screen of Berdel ............................................................ 36 Figure 6.2 A scene from the documentary The Bride Price: Consequences of Child Marriage Worldwide by Stephanie Sinclair .................................................................... 37 Figure 6.3 Children, and male characters in Berdel ....................................................... 37 Figure 6.4 Baby girl preparing for coffining in Berdel ................................................... 38 Figure 6.5 Child bride in Berdel ..................................................................................... 39 Figure 6.6 One of the good memories of little girl in Wicked Girl ................................ 40 Figure 6.7 One of the bad memories of little girl in Wicked Girl .................................. 40 Figure 6.8 Twelve men depicted as horrific creatures in Wicked Girl ........................... 41 Figure 6.9 The animation Happiness by Steve Cutts, 2017 ............................................ 43 viii Figure 6.10 Black Friday scene from Happiness ............................................................ 44 Figure 6.11 Black Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2018 ..................................................... 44 Figure 6.12 People on Black Friday, 2018 ..................................................................... 45 Figure 6.13 People in a workplace, In Shadow: A Modern Odyssey ............................. 47 Figure 6.14 Scene from In Shadow: A Modern Odyssey ............................................... 47 Figure 6.15 Mental Slavery, In Shadow: A Modern Odyssey ........................................ 48 Figure 6.16 Bloody Sheets in Berdel .............................................................................. 49 ix 1. INTRODUCTION Child marriage and the bride exchange are problems that maintain their negative positions as issues all around the world and particularly in Turkey. Although there are various reasons for these practices, reported by the International Center for Research on Women the main reason is stated as poverty (2017). This problem is most commonly encountered in underdeveloped or developing countries where poverty is widespread. (Şen, 2014). In addition, the lack of education is also one of the major factors that play a role in child marriage and bride exchange. As the lack of education increases, the ratio of child marriage and bride exchange also increases (Calp, 2014). In other words, there is an inverse relationship between education level and child marriage. Socio-economic factors, socio-cultural factors, religious beliefs, and social