Papers by NİLGÜN FİRİDİNOĞLU
Molière’den Molyer’e: Osmanlı-Türkiye Sahnesinde Karşılaşmalar, 2024
The research carried out in Turkey so far base the admiration of Molière by the 19th century the... more The research carried out in Turkey so far base the admiration of Molière by the 19th century theater audience in the Ottoman Empire mainly on two factors. First, the themes and characters in Molière's plays are similar to those we encounter in traditional folk comedies, especially in the traditional performance cultures of the peoples of the Mediterranean basin. The second is that authors of Turkish adaptations of Molière texts were Ottoman intellectuals who had knowledge of Western theater and knew the society they lived in, such as Ahmet Vefik Pasha, Teodor Kasap and Âli Bey.
As it is apparent that it has a direct connection with the mentioned dynamics, another determinant that needs to be specially considered is acting, actors and staging. This article will be how the Molière's plays were performed both in Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey and how these stagings were received and criticized by focusing on the relationship between the stage and the text. Furthermore, how the qualification of the text, which the actor’s performance is built, is formed in parallel with the changing political dynamics and aesthetics in turn of the century will be discussed in detail.
In the second half of the 19th century, the transformation process of Molière's adaptations from which one of the important tools in the spread of Western theater, into “unperformable” literary products and placed in “libraries” from the 1930s will be discussed through theater criticism. The search for the “genuine” Molière of the intellectuals of the early Republican period will be discussed in the context of the cultural policies of the period.
Konservatoryum - Conservatorium, 2023
We come across the expression Huzur Temsilleri (performance in the presence of the sultan) in the... more We come across the expression Huzur Temsilleri (performance in the presence of the sultan) in the narratives of people, especially actors, who witnessed the entertainment life of the Ottoman palace in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In these narratives, we see that the expression Huzur Temsilleri is used to describe the performances made in the presence of the sultan at his command/will. It is possible to argue that the word temsil here is used for all kinds of performative representations. From pantomime to juggling, from Karagöz to meddah, from operetta, to tulûat, from animal acrobats to Western-style theater, the genre diversity of the nineteenth century performances in the palace appears to be wide-ranging.
From the second half of the nineteenth century, when trends began to change in the context of entertainment culture and especially theater art, traditional performance performers (especially Ortaoyunu performers) had to survive both economically and artistically. We can say that, among the crises experienced in various fields between the traditional and modern aspects of the Tanzimat period, this is perhaps the crisis that has produced the most creative results in the struggle for survival. Despite the negative arguments produced by the leading intellectuals of society against traditional performances, practitioners of traditional performing arts have engaged in a distinctive interaction with Western-style theater and embarked on new/experimental quests. Toward the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the creative pains of the crisis in the theater gave birth to the Tulûat Theater. The names we will discuss with their representations in the presence are the master performers of this new genre. We see that some of these masters were recruited to Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun within the service of the Harem.
However, taking part in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section did not mean immediately appearing in the presence of the sultan. Being talented was not enough in itself to play in the presence of the sultan, irade-i seniyye, meaning “the sultan’s order” was also necessary. For the irade-i seniyye to be issued, it was necessary to establish relationships with the right people, especially those close to the palace, as well as having a good record. Participating in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section was based on the observations, recommendations and evaluations of the current senior actors.
After all, Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun was a structure established with military organization and for military purposes. Therefore, the self-educated actors selected for Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun, like those accepted here as students, were also subject to rank in this military hierarchy. Considering this situation, when we take this into account, we see that to perform for the huzur (royal presence), various ranks, orders, and titles appropriate to the seriousness and protocol of the palace were bestowed upon the actors, and they even performed in uniform. The contradictions between the demands of the palace and the dynamics of the theater are evaluated through examples.
Moreover, the performance that took place in the presence of the sultan had an irregular timing depending on the rhythm of the harem, especially that of the sultan. The impact of the temporal intervention on the performance, which transforms the presence of the actor into a vigilant soldier, has been discussed concerning sudden representation requests/commands, abrupt beginnings, or abrupt endings in the performance. For an actor, what is worse than an uninterested spectator who is asleep, who is interested in the guest next to him, is the audience who is not sure whether to be there or not.
This audience–player relationship has been opened to discussion with examples that will cause us to question the relationship between the spectator sultan and the performer. The sultan turns into a hypothetical spectator, that is, in the sense of the audience that is supposed to be there, but not certain to be there, based on the assumption that he is there. Moreover, how does even a small doubt about the presence of the audience affect the performance?
The actor performing in the presence of the sultan and his performance has been interpreted in four aspects. The first aspect is focused on the timing and potential changes in the duration of the performance. The second aspect is transformative intervention concerning the content of the performance. The third aspect is how the relationship between the actor and their audience differs from the performances presented in front of the public. Fourth and lastly, we can observe that the act of watching becomes somewhat more complicated. The sultan watches not only the performers but also the other audience members present during the performance from a designated area, sometimes concealed by a screen or enclosure.
Oidipus – Psikomitoloji 2: Sosyokültürel Açılımlar YKY/Cogito, 2023
Türkiye Tiyatrosunda Kral Oidipus’un Halleri (1924-1947)
Tiyatro araştırmaları dergisi, 2009
Tiyatro eleştirmenliği ve dramaturji bölümü dergisi, 2008
... Aziz-O Kahraman bir sıcak güneşi andırıyor, Yolunda uyuyanlar varsa uyandırıyor. Nurunu hem y... more ... Aziz-O Kahraman bir sıcak güneşi andırıyor, Yolunda uyuyanlar varsa uyandırıyor. Nurunu hem yükseğe veriyor hem alçağa, Başlıyor hep alınlar bir ışıkla yanmağa. Karışınca bağrına o güneşten biraz nur Bir anda insan olur demin bastığın çamur. ...
Tiyatro eleştirmenliği ve dramaturji bölümü dergisi, 2013
Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü dergisi, Jul 7, 2020
Turkish Shakespeare , 2022
Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2009
Faruk Nafiz Camlibel's Play “Hero” and a Role Of Ideological Compulsion within the Literary P... more Faruk Nafiz Camlibel's Play “Hero” and a Role Of Ideological Compulsion within the Literary Production Process Abstract This article aims to analyse the play “Kahraman (Hero)”, a typical example of early Republican theatre literature, by Faruk Nafiz Camlibel in terms of the ideological compulsion to create a “hero” fiction within the text. It further investigates how this ideological compulsion affected the discursive and stylistic structure of the text through images and symbols. This article is grounded in Althusser's definition of ideology and his approach to ideology-text-author relationship as well as Pierre Macherey's theory of literary production process and its role in forming the text. In addition, it also provides an examination of the historical and sociological milieu and discusses its influence on the intellectual mechanism of the text. Key words: ideology, text-author relationship, Faruk Nafiz Camlibel, image of hero. Oz Bu yazida, erken cumhuriyet donemi t...
This study analyzes the reasons why representations of non-Muslim Ottomans are so scarce in the w... more This study analyzes the reasons why representations of non-Muslim Ottomans are so scarce in the works of playwrights who tried to imbue literature with a “national” character, despite the fact that non-Muslims were pioneers in the adoption of Western-style theater in the Ottoman Empire. This paper discusses the representation of non-Muslim Ottomans within the context of the economic and political changes in the Ottoman Empire, focusing on plays that were not adapted from Western literary works and plays written in Turkish by the Ottoman writers. It is argued that the sense of “us” and “them” originated from a nationalist sentiment which intensified during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire and economic changes which benefited non-Muslims. These factors are what determined the representation of non-Muslim Ottoman characters. It is maintained that an idea of “us” is dominant in the plays written in this period, as non-Muslim elements which mark either the religious or ethnic ident...
Bu calismada 19. yuzyilin son ceyreginden itibaren Osmanli Imparatorlugu’nda Bati tarzi tiyatronu... more Bu calismada 19. yuzyilin son ceyreginden itibaren Osmanli Imparatorlugu’nda Bati tarzi tiyatronun “sosyal yardimlasma” araci olarak nasil kullanildigi ele alinacaktir. Tiyatro bu donemde, depremzedelerden yanginzedelere, fakir fukaradan, yetim cocuklara, kimsesizlere, hastalara, okullara, kadar genis bir alanda yapilan yardim faaliyetlerinin onemli bir parcasi haline gelmistir. Bu gonullu yardim kampanyalarinin disinda biletlere uygulanan vergilerle tiyatro, kamu hizmet kurumlarinin ( Darulaceze, Hamidiye Hicaz Demiryolu gibi.) insa surecinde de devlet tarafindan bir gelir kaynagi olarak gorulmustur. Calisma kapsaminda donemin siyasal dinamiklerinin bu yardim faaliyetlerinin bicimlenmesinde ne derece rol oynadigi tartismaya acilacaktir. Anahtar Kelimeler: 19. yuzyil Osmanli Tiyatrosu, sosyal yardimlasma ve tiyatro.
ÜSKÜP-İSTANBUL KENTSEL KÜLTÜREL KİMLİKLER, 2020
Prof. Dr. Özdemir Nutku'ya Armağan Kitabı, 2012
Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi – Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy,, 2010
This article aims to analyse the play Kahraman (Hero), a typical example of early Republican dram... more This article aims to analyse the play Kahraman (Hero), a typical example of early Republican drama, by Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel. It focuses on how the ideological necessity affected the discursive and formal structure of the text. This essay is grounded in Althusser‘s definition of ideology and his approach to ideology-text-author relationship as well as Pierre Macherey‘s theory of literary production process. Aside from these, the text also provides an examination of the historical and social context of the play and their influences on the intellectual mechanism of the text.
Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi/Journal of Theatre Criticism and Dramaturgy, 2007
It is aimed in this article to analyse the play “Sağanak” by well-known novelist Yakup Kadri Kara... more It is aimed in this article to analyse the play “Sağanak” by well-known novelist Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, ,to reveal how the text reflects the struggle between progressionists and reactionists after the war of independence and the position of Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu in this political resolution process as a republican intellectual. The article analyses the utilization of “family”, “family ties” and “house” in the play as a metaphor of nationality and compares the similarities between Sağanak and the author’s cult three novels, “Kiralık Konak”, “Yaban” and “Ankara”. The main endeavour of the article is, althought its some technical weaknesses, to call attention Sağanak and its courageous content which reflects the republican reformists and reactionaries’ countermovement to crucial social reforms impartially as far as possible in The Early Republican Era.
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Papers by NİLGÜN FİRİDİNOĞLU
As it is apparent that it has a direct connection with the mentioned dynamics, another determinant that needs to be specially considered is acting, actors and staging. This article will be how the Molière's plays were performed both in Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey and how these stagings were received and criticized by focusing on the relationship between the stage and the text. Furthermore, how the qualification of the text, which the actor’s performance is built, is formed in parallel with the changing political dynamics and aesthetics in turn of the century will be discussed in detail.
In the second half of the 19th century, the transformation process of Molière's adaptations from which one of the important tools in the spread of Western theater, into “unperformable” literary products and placed in “libraries” from the 1930s will be discussed through theater criticism. The search for the “genuine” Molière of the intellectuals of the early Republican period will be discussed in the context of the cultural policies of the period.
From the second half of the nineteenth century, when trends began to change in the context of entertainment culture and especially theater art, traditional performance performers (especially Ortaoyunu performers) had to survive both economically and artistically. We can say that, among the crises experienced in various fields between the traditional and modern aspects of the Tanzimat period, this is perhaps the crisis that has produced the most creative results in the struggle for survival. Despite the negative arguments produced by the leading intellectuals of society against traditional performances, practitioners of traditional performing arts have engaged in a distinctive interaction with Western-style theater and embarked on new/experimental quests. Toward the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the creative pains of the crisis in the theater gave birth to the Tulûat Theater. The names we will discuss with their representations in the presence are the master performers of this new genre. We see that some of these masters were recruited to Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun within the service of the Harem.
However, taking part in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section did not mean immediately appearing in the presence of the sultan. Being talented was not enough in itself to play in the presence of the sultan, irade-i seniyye, meaning “the sultan’s order” was also necessary. For the irade-i seniyye to be issued, it was necessary to establish relationships with the right people, especially those close to the palace, as well as having a good record. Participating in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section was based on the observations, recommendations and evaluations of the current senior actors.
After all, Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun was a structure established with military organization and for military purposes. Therefore, the self-educated actors selected for Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun, like those accepted here as students, were also subject to rank in this military hierarchy. Considering this situation, when we take this into account, we see that to perform for the huzur (royal presence), various ranks, orders, and titles appropriate to the seriousness and protocol of the palace were bestowed upon the actors, and they even performed in uniform. The contradictions between the demands of the palace and the dynamics of the theater are evaluated through examples.
Moreover, the performance that took place in the presence of the sultan had an irregular timing depending on the rhythm of the harem, especially that of the sultan. The impact of the temporal intervention on the performance, which transforms the presence of the actor into a vigilant soldier, has been discussed concerning sudden representation requests/commands, abrupt beginnings, or abrupt endings in the performance. For an actor, what is worse than an uninterested spectator who is asleep, who is interested in the guest next to him, is the audience who is not sure whether to be there or not.
This audience–player relationship has been opened to discussion with examples that will cause us to question the relationship between the spectator sultan and the performer. The sultan turns into a hypothetical spectator, that is, in the sense of the audience that is supposed to be there, but not certain to be there, based on the assumption that he is there. Moreover, how does even a small doubt about the presence of the audience affect the performance?
The actor performing in the presence of the sultan and his performance has been interpreted in four aspects. The first aspect is focused on the timing and potential changes in the duration of the performance. The second aspect is transformative intervention concerning the content of the performance. The third aspect is how the relationship between the actor and their audience differs from the performances presented in front of the public. Fourth and lastly, we can observe that the act of watching becomes somewhat more complicated. The sultan watches not only the performers but also the other audience members present during the performance from a designated area, sometimes concealed by a screen or enclosure.
As it is apparent that it has a direct connection with the mentioned dynamics, another determinant that needs to be specially considered is acting, actors and staging. This article will be how the Molière's plays were performed both in Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey and how these stagings were received and criticized by focusing on the relationship between the stage and the text. Furthermore, how the qualification of the text, which the actor’s performance is built, is formed in parallel with the changing political dynamics and aesthetics in turn of the century will be discussed in detail.
In the second half of the 19th century, the transformation process of Molière's adaptations from which one of the important tools in the spread of Western theater, into “unperformable” literary products and placed in “libraries” from the 1930s will be discussed through theater criticism. The search for the “genuine” Molière of the intellectuals of the early Republican period will be discussed in the context of the cultural policies of the period.
From the second half of the nineteenth century, when trends began to change in the context of entertainment culture and especially theater art, traditional performance performers (especially Ortaoyunu performers) had to survive both economically and artistically. We can say that, among the crises experienced in various fields between the traditional and modern aspects of the Tanzimat period, this is perhaps the crisis that has produced the most creative results in the struggle for survival. Despite the negative arguments produced by the leading intellectuals of society against traditional performances, practitioners of traditional performing arts have engaged in a distinctive interaction with Western-style theater and embarked on new/experimental quests. Toward the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the creative pains of the crisis in the theater gave birth to the Tulûat Theater. The names we will discuss with their representations in the presence are the master performers of this new genre. We see that some of these masters were recruited to Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun within the service of the Harem.
However, taking part in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section did not mean immediately appearing in the presence of the sultan. Being talented was not enough in itself to play in the presence of the sultan, irade-i seniyye, meaning “the sultan’s order” was also necessary. For the irade-i seniyye to be issued, it was necessary to establish relationships with the right people, especially those close to the palace, as well as having a good record. Participating in the Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun theater section was based on the observations, recommendations and evaluations of the current senior actors.
After all, Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun was a structure established with military organization and for military purposes. Therefore, the self-educated actors selected for Muzıkâ-yi Hümâyun, like those accepted here as students, were also subject to rank in this military hierarchy. Considering this situation, when we take this into account, we see that to perform for the huzur (royal presence), various ranks, orders, and titles appropriate to the seriousness and protocol of the palace were bestowed upon the actors, and they even performed in uniform. The contradictions between the demands of the palace and the dynamics of the theater are evaluated through examples.
Moreover, the performance that took place in the presence of the sultan had an irregular timing depending on the rhythm of the harem, especially that of the sultan. The impact of the temporal intervention on the performance, which transforms the presence of the actor into a vigilant soldier, has been discussed concerning sudden representation requests/commands, abrupt beginnings, or abrupt endings in the performance. For an actor, what is worse than an uninterested spectator who is asleep, who is interested in the guest next to him, is the audience who is not sure whether to be there or not.
This audience–player relationship has been opened to discussion with examples that will cause us to question the relationship between the spectator sultan and the performer. The sultan turns into a hypothetical spectator, that is, in the sense of the audience that is supposed to be there, but not certain to be there, based on the assumption that he is there. Moreover, how does even a small doubt about the presence of the audience affect the performance?
The actor performing in the presence of the sultan and his performance has been interpreted in four aspects. The first aspect is focused on the timing and potential changes in the duration of the performance. The second aspect is transformative intervention concerning the content of the performance. The third aspect is how the relationship between the actor and their audience differs from the performances presented in front of the public. Fourth and lastly, we can observe that the act of watching becomes somewhat more complicated. The sultan watches not only the performers but also the other audience members present during the performance from a designated area, sometimes concealed by a screen or enclosure.