Beyond the Songs: Women Performers of Ethnic Music in Contemporary Istanbul Alexandra Courchesne A Thesis in The Department of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada November 2013 © Alexandra Courchesne 2013 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Alexandra Courchesne Entitled: Beyond the Songs: Women Performers of Ethnic Music in Contemporary Istanbul and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: ____________________Prof. Meir Amor_____________________ Chair ___________________ Prof. Yesim Bayar________________ Examiner _____________________Prof. Sally Cole_________________ Examiner __________________Prof.Homa Hoodfar_________________ Supervisor Approved by __________________________Meir Amor_______________________ Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director ______6 December___2013 __Joanne Locke_________________ Dean of Faculty ABSTRACT Beyond the Songs: Women Performers of Ethnic Music in Contemporary Istanbul Alexandra Courchesne Music has often had a political aspect but its power has increased since the formation of the modern state. In Turkey, music has been an instrument for the nation- building project but also a tool for members of the civil society. With the release of the ban that prohibited ethnic music in the public arena in 1990, women performers of this music genre have managed to carve out their niche on the public stage as well as to gain social respectability in the process. Drawing on a three-month fieldwork in Istanbul, this thesis seeks to present the strategies and obstacles women performers of ethnic music employ to break with the image of the ‘entertainer’, to advocate for the rights of the ethnic minorities, and to re-define inter-gender relationships. This thesis is an exercise in engagement with these questions: How do women use ethnic music in order to carve out their place in the public arena while gaining and maintaining social respectability? More particularly, how were they able to do it in the peculiar constantly evolving socio- political landscape of the Ottoman Empire first and then of the Turkish Republic? What were the obstacles they faced at various stages and what strategies they employed to challenge, circumvent, overcome, co-opt or neutralize these obstacles? iii RÉSUMÉ La musique a souvent eu un aspect politique mais son pouvoir s’est décuplé depuis la formation de l’état-nation moderne. En Turquie, la musique a été instrumentalisée par les membres du gouvernement réformiste lors de la construction de l’état-nation mais elle a également servi d’outil de contestation ou de négociation pour plusieurs membres de la société civile. Depuis 1990, année durant laquelle le gouvernement turc a retiré l’interdiction officielle contre la présence de la musique ethnique dans la sphère publique, plusieurs artistes féminines à l’intérieur de ce style musical se sont taillé une place sur la scène publique et ont réussi en même temps à obtenir et maintenir leur respectabilité sociale. Se basant sur trois mois de terrain ethnographique à Istanbul, ce mémoire cherche à présenter les stratégies et obstacles que ces femmes jouant de la musique ethnique emploient afin de briser l’image de « l’artiste de variété» (entertainer), de promouvoir les droits des minorités ethniques et de redéfinir les relations entre les genres. Ce mémoire cherche à répondre aux questions suivantes : comment les femmes utilisent-elles la musique ethnique afin de se créer un espace sur la sphère publique tout en maintenant leur respectabilité ? Plus particulièrement, comment ont-elles réussi à le faire compte tenu des différents événements sociaux et politiques qui ont secoué la fin de l’Empire Ottoman ainsi que la Turquie depuis sa fondation en 1923? Quels sont les obstacles auxquels ces musiciennes ont fait face et quelles ont été les stratégies qu’elles ont utilisées pour contrer, contourner, outrepasser, s’approprier ou neutraliser ces obstacles ? iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like, first and foremost, to thank my supervisor, Prof. Homa Hoodfar, for her constant support, her understanding, and her careful reading of the different versions of this thesis. Supervising me during this process must have required great patience. I am indebted for everything she has done for me. Many thanks also to Prof. Yeșim Bayar and Prof.Sally Cole for their availability and for providing me with incisive and instructive comments on my thesis. The interviews during my fieldwork in Istanbul in the fall of 2011 would never have taken place if it had not been for Evrim Șener, Mehmet Karabela, Rıfat and Ayfer Vardar, and Șafak Velioğlu who put me in touch with musicians, as well as Barıș Adayılmaz and Mustafa Uzuner who helped me as translators. I am also very grateful to my roommate in Istanbul, Berrin Hatacıkoğlu, for our night-long hallway conversations regarding the status of women in the different ethnic communities in Turkey and for making me feel at home in her flat. Je tiens également à remercier mes collègues et amis du Musée Pointe-à-Callière pour m’avoir supportée dans ces moments de stress et de fatigue (je pense ici plus particulièrement à Philippe Boulanger, Frédéric Parent et Michel L’Héreault), mais également pour avoir accepté de me remplacer au travail à plusieurs reprises et souvent à la dernière minute afin que je puisse terminer d’écrire mon mémoire. Merci également à Félix Larose-Chevalier pour le titre. Je suis redevable à ma responsable, Martine Poirier, pour sa compréhension et le travail qu’elle a dû effectuer pour remanier les horaires. Writing in English has been a difficult task for this native French speaker. I am extremely grateful to my friend Hasher Majoka who not only edited my grammatical v mistakes but who also helped me in phrasing and organizing my information. This thesis would never have ended if it had not passed through his hands. Merci également à mon amie Martine Gauthier pour avoir partagé avec moi ces longues heures d’études consacrées à l’écriture de nos mémoires respectifs, pour nos nombreuses discussions anthropologiques et son amitié. If I chose to work on women playing ethnic music in Turkey, it is thanks to my friends Neslihan Çoroğlu and her mother Zekiye (Zekoș) Șenol-Çoroğlu who, since 2007, have welcome me in their houses in Istanbul, Karaburun, Adapazarı and Ortakent at many times, who have considered me a member of their family and taken me to concerts and türkü bars. I owe much of my knowledge on daily life in Turkey to living with them, listing to Neslihan’s CDs from morning to evening, and accompanying them everywhere they went. I am eternally indebted for their constant friendship and affection. Neslihan’s strength, high energy, and great passion for life inspired me to work on women like her. I also thank her for participating in my fieldwork and helping me with the translations. Je tiens à remercier tout particulièrement ma mère, Hélène Hamel, pour m’avoir toujours encouragée à poursuivre mes rêves, même s’ils dérogeaient d’une vie conventionnelle, pour sa grande écoute et nos longues discussions sur le sens de la vie, la religion, et les femmes. Elle a été la première féministe de mon existence et son regard inquisiteur sur la vie m’a appris à toujours questionner ce que nous prenons pour acquis. Merci également à mon père, Pierre Courchesne, pour m’avoir transmis sa passion pour l’histoire, la géographie et la politique. Sa curiosité intellectuelle m’a amenée à constamment tourner mon regard vers l’extérieur et éventuellement à tomber amoureuse de la Turquie. Merci pareillement à Gabrielle Sabourin, pour sa fidèle amitié et son vi soutien constant. Finally, I would like to thank my boyfriend, Emre Ünlücayaklı, for translating fieldwork material into Turkish before, during and after the fieldwork and also for the transcriptions of the interviews. I also thank him for commenting on my work, for advising me, and putting me in touch with his friends when I was in Istanbul while he stayed in Montreal. Having him next to me during this process was fundamental in achieving this project. On a personal note, I finally thank him for his constant support, love and affection, for cheering me up during difficult times, and for taking of our move into a new apartment, as well as of doing all the daily tasks at home in order to give me time to study when I came back from work. vii Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 6 Historical background .................................................................................................................. 7 The Organization of the Thesis .................................................................................................. 11 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework and Methodology and Setting ................................................ 14 The Public and Private spheres .................................................................................................