ebook img

Performing Sufi Living in Contemporary Turkey PDF

322 Pages·2017·1.72 MB·English
by  
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Performing Sufi Living in Contemporary Turkey

ytisrevinU fo notpmaheoR LAROTCOD SISEHT gnimrofreP ifuS gniviL ni yraropmetnoC yekruT ,icemziÇ tersaH arsE Award date: 5102 Awarding institution: ytisrevinU fo notpmaheoR lareneG sthgir thgirypoC dna larom sthgir rof eht snoitacilbup edam elbiseca ni eht cilbup latrop era deniater yb eht srohtua ro/dna rehto thgirypoc srenwo dna ti si a noitidnoc fo gniseca snoitacilbup taht sresu esingocer dna ediba yb eht lagel stnemeriuqer detaicosa htiw eseht .sthgir • sresU yam daolnwod dna tnirp eno ypoc fo yna noitacilbup morf eht cilbup latrop rof eht esoprup fo etavirp yduts ro .hcraeser • uoY yam ton rehtruf etubirtsid eht lairetam ro esu ti rof yna gnikam-tiforp ytivitca ro laicremoc niag • uoY yam ylerf etubirtsid eht LRU gniyfitnedi eht noitacilbup ni eht cilbup latrop ? ekaT nwod ycilop fI uoy eveileb taht siht tnemucod sehcaerb thgirypoc esaelp tcatnoc su gnidivorp ,sliated dna ew liw evomer seca ot eht krow yletaidemi dna etagitsevni ruoy .mialc daolnwoD :etad .92 .raM 9102 Performing Sufi Living in Contemporary Turkey By Hasret Esra Çizmeci, BA, MFA, MA A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Drama, Theatre and Performance University of Roehampton 2015 1 ABSTRACT In 1925, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, at the beginning of the Republican Era of Turkey, passed a series of decrees that prohibited the production and maintenance of Sufi lodges in Turkey and the practices of Sufi şeyhs and dervishes. This legal act was part of Atatürk’s social reforms that were designed to convert the newly found Republic of Turkey into a secular, modern state. Atatürk believed that Sufi dervish lodges should be closed immediately in order to transform the long-existing religious Ottoman culture into a rapidly evolving intellectual culture educated through Western scientific knowledge. This project examines how, despite legal restrictions prohibiting Sufi lodge production, devotees continue to create space for their devotional living in present-day Turkey. Through extensive field research in Sufi communities, this project investigates how Sufi religious practices are maintained, adapted, mobilized, and empowered through embodied acts of Sufi followers. Using Dwight Conquergood’s concept of “dialogic” performance, I analyze the ritual and everyday life experience of Sufi devotees in a variety of temporary and permanent sacred spaces through my coperformative witnessing. I argue in this study that the multifaceted urban Sufi devotional living in contemporary Turkey may be discerned most vividly by analysis of production of Sufi sacred spaces, the performance of Sufi rituals, and embodiment of Sufi beliefs and values in everyday life in a variety of urban commercial sites such as museums and cultural centers and private houses and apartment buildings converted to Sufi lodges. With their embodied acts, devotees revive, reformulate, expand, and mobilize Sufism as a way of living that is a synthesis of secular and religious values of the Turkish state. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................. 1 Acknowledgements.......................................................................................... 8 Chapter One Introduction............................................................................... 8 Performance as an Object and Methodology.................................................... 17 Methodology..................................................................................................... 22 Urban Sufi Living.............................................................................................. 31 Making Space(s) For Sufi Living...................................................................... 34 Modernity and Secularism................................................................................. 40 Spirituality and Religion.................................................................................... 46 Conclusion......................................................................................................... 49 Chapter Two Comprehending the Practice of Sufi Living in Turkey: Key Theoretical Changes and Historical Indications ............................................... 56 Tasavvuf: Origins, Key Theories, Concepts, and Practices.............................. 56 God’s Unity...................................................................................................... 60 Tarikat.............................................................................................................. 61 Spiritual Journey — Nefs Training................................................................... 65 Rituals, Poetry, and Music................................................................................ 72 Secularism and Islam in the Turkish State....................................................... 73 Secularization of Sufi Cultural Beliefs and Values as Cultural Heritage......... 87 Conclusion........................................................................................................ 94 3 Chapter Three Making Space for Sufi Devotional Living............................ 96 An Office Converted into a Worship Space.................................................... 100 Witnessing the Devotion at a Historical Lodge............................................... 105 Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi (Mevlevi Lodge) ..................................................... 117 Narin dede: Making Space for Practicing and Teaching Sufi Living............. 134 Dede Efendi House.......................................................................................... 144 Narin dede at the Four Seasons Hotel............................................................. 153 Conclusion....................................................................................................... 159 Chapter Four A Sufi Master and His Devotees: Converting an Apartment Building and a Wooden House into Dergahs................................................. 162 Underground Sufi Living................................................................................ 163 Dergah as a “Practiced Place:” Home, School, and Community and Worship Center..................................... 169 Efendi as Poet, Composer, Father, and Teacher Sacralizing the Spaces and Mobilizing Sufi Living.................................................................................... 173 Owning and Transforming the Space into a Dergah: Devotees Train Through Service.................................................................... 179 The Embodiment of Divine Energy: Collective Zikir..................................... 194 Performing Meşk for Divine Inspiration.......................................................... 212 Conclusion....................................................................................................... 214 Chapter Five Sanctifying the Touristic Konya: Inscribing Sufi Values on Shrines Shrines Converted into Museums, Cultural Centers, Mosques, Streets, and Hotels.............................................. 216 th Konya: The City of Rumi’s Urs (December 17 ) .......................................... 220 Pilgrimage to Konya with the Underground Sufi Group................................. 227 4 Converting a City Hotel into a Dergah........................................................... 231 Şems-i Tebrizi’s Mosque................................................................................. 236 Traveling to, Within, and Between Sufi Master’s Tombs: Embodying the Divine Meaning in the Buses and Making Shrines Alive with Sufi Devotion................................................ 240 Performing Zikir Outside the Walls of Rumi’s Shrine.................................... 244 Shaking the Dining Room with the Embodiment of Divine Energy on Rumi’s th Urs (December 17 ) ...................................................................................... 246 Whirling Ritual............................................................................................... . 253 Bürhan............................................................................................................. 255 Conclusion: From Pilgrimage to Everyday..................................................... 262 Chapter Six Conclusion................................................................................. 266 Appendices....................................................................................................... 281 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 284 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to commend my thesis committee at Roehampton University — Ioana Szeman (Director of Studies), Josh Abrams, and Susanne Greenhalgh — for their expertise, incredible support, care, patience, and critical questions. They guided me throughout this interdisplinary research project with intense discussions about the multifaceted social, political, and religious conditions of Sufi living in Turkey. Dr. Szeman gave me strategies to work as an ethnographer as I participated in the activities of Sufi communities, guided me to invaluable sources, and challenged me to bring forth my critical voice throughout the writing process. Dr. Greenhalgh helped me with her expertise as a researcher and writer and guided me to see each concept more critically as I struggled with the interdisciplinary nature of my project. Dr. Abrams challenged me with complex questions about Sufi religious life and the roles embodied by spiritual leaders and devotees, motivating me as a researcher to ask questions about Sufi devotion in relation to social and poltical conditions in Turkey. My supervisors shared my excitement, discoveries, challenges, and fears with kindness until the end. I could not have produced this project without their expertise and guidance. I would very much like to thank my mother, Deniz Yolal, for her love, support, and protection. Her caring and encouraging words journeyed with me as I travelled from one place to another to meet with devotees, reminding me that every human being is more than just the social, religious, and economic labels that society produces. She never got tired of reading my work and offering me insight about Turkey and Islam. I 6 would also like to express my gratitude to my father, Bülent Çizmeci, grandmother İffet Yolal, and brother, Akın Çizmeci, who always motivated me with their caring words. Thank you as well to all my friends in İzmir, İstanbul, and New York, especially Charles C. Bales, my classmate and close friend who, from my first day as a graduate student in New York and later as a Ph.D. student in London, guided and supported me in my academic journey and was always there to read and offer feedback to help me improve my work. This journey would have been lonely and stressful without him. I would also like to thank Selen Akçalı and John Michael Rossi, who also provided incredible support as I struggled with my writing by reading and offering feedback on the thesis and by taking the time to talk to me in person to help me clarify my ideas and concepts. In addition, I am grateful for having such loving friends like Defne Gürmen, Melih Korukçu, Burcu Salihoğlu, Ahhan Şener, and Efe Yöndem who cherished my growth as a person, as an artist, and as a scholar throughout the process. My journey in academia introduced me to many beloved mentors in İstanbul, New York, and London, especially Günay Öz, Mehmet Birkiye, Amy Hughes, Helen Richardson, and Judylee Vivier, who all provided love, care, and support as I sought to find my own path. I am also indebted to Roehampton University’s Sacred Heart Scholarship which generously supported me financially, covering my tuition and living expenses for the past four years. This project would not have been possible without the Sacred Heart Scholarship. 7 Finally, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to all of the Sufi devotees (whose names I cannot provide to respect their privacy) with whom I shared my journey in Turkey. They strengthened my theoretical and practical understanding of devotional living and my idea of unity and peace. Thank you all very much for your kind hearts. 8 Chapter One Introduction This ethnographic research project examines the generation of Sufi living in a variety of private, semi-public, public, secular, and sacred urban spaces in present-day Turkey. Sufi devotees, through the organization of Sufi gatherings in private homes, museums, theaters, and cultural centers, mobilize Tasavvuf (Sufism) as a way of living that is a synthesis of the religious and secular values of the Turkish state. Using an ethnographic methodology and theories derived from performance studies, I examine the multiple ways in which the Sufi way of living is formed, such as through the 1 authority of the spiritual teacher (şeyh); the individual and collective performance of Sufi rituals; nefs (self or soul) training; and most importantly, the practice of Sufi doctrines in everyday life through the production of sacred spaces. In the urban landscapes of present-day Turkey, individuals from different cultural, religious, ethnic, national, and social backgrounds practice Tasavvuf in a variety of ways. Some devotees perceive the Sufi way of living as studying and/or practicing certain aspects of Tasavvuf, such as its rituals, religious poetry, and music, or attending religious talks. These devotees claim that by performing certain aspects, they increase the quality of 1 Şeyh literally means elder and is the title given to the spiritual master and leader of a Sufi order. Since this study is about individuals in Turkey, I employ the religious terms that are common to Turkish, Persian, and Arabic in their Turkish versions and in italics. I use some of the terms interchangeably, such as order and tarikat (plural of turuq, meaning way or path); gathering and sohbet (referring to talk sessions); devotee, student, or mürit (also meaning student or pupil); and spiritual guide/master, şeyh and mürsi̧ t (also meaning spiritual teacher) as used by followers. While the şeyh of the secluded order calls his devotees dervishes, mürits or students, other spiritual teachers I conversed with only use the term students. I will explain the specific meaning and function of these terms in present-day Sufi living as they are used in different Sufi groups and orders as I analyze the practices of each individual.

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.