The soul danced into the body: Nation and improvisation in Istanbul

Abstract

In this article, I examine the politics and practices of apprenticeship in the “traditions” of Turkish folk music through playing the bag˘lama, or saz. The saz has become iconically representative of a folk music collected and preserved in the era of nationalism, and I examine the meaning of such a self‐conscious and reflexive tradition's claims to traditionality. I outline the ways in which that tradition is acquired as an aesthetics of self, requiring one to consciously shape the self to become the type of person who can play the saz and, hence, improvise within the sensibility of a tradition.

Pedagogies of Affection: The Role of Exemplariness and Emulation in Learning Processes—Extracurricular Islamic Education in the Fethullah Gülen Community in Istanbul

“…At first examination, this definition contains some of the most critical aspects of Bourdieu's wider scholarship. In particular, it seems to reproduce his idea that embodiment processes are “unconscious” (Mahmood ; Bryant ). Saba Mahmood () has forcefully questioned Bourdieu's way of understanding habitus exactly on this point.…”

“…First, Lave and Wenger have a marked focus on skills and technical abilities, stemming from the particular contexts and subjects of research upon which they developed their theories (apprenticeship of manual labor: weaving, craftsmanship, playing of musical instruments etc.). Second, as some of the authors who have studied learning in such contexts (Herzfeld ; Bryant ) have themselves acknowledged, their perspective on learning has been influenced by the fact that in the case studies they considered, the apprentices’ own observation and progressive involvement in that labor were central to learning in those apprenticeship traditions while the role of educators was of little significance.…”

“…Consequently, like the studies of socialization quoted above, here I am arguing that these other authors have tended to overemphasize learners’ active role in learning processes at the expense of masters, parents, and others who, in my view, are central to defining and structuring what and how young people learn, especially in religious contexts. Even if they recognize that social behaviors, emotional expressions, beliefs, and abstract knowledge alike may be learned in practice (Gaskins and Paradise ), and express concern with the fact that particular kinds of persons are constructed in learning processes (Bryant ; Herzfeld ), studies of daily socialization and of learning nonetheless have limited applicability to educational contexts like those described in this article.…”

“…In particular, it will allow us to ponder the role of exemplariness and emulation within pedagogical process in the Gülen houses. This will also help us widen the spectrum of pedagogical intervention and overcome the conscious/unconscious polarity to which the debate on habitus runs the risk of being reduced (e.g., Mahmood ; Bryant ).…”

The Sung Home. Narrative, Morality, and the Kurdish Nation

“…70 The Kurdish movement has strived towards a redefinition of Kurdishness as a positive trait that is worthy of being embraced instead of rejected. Music played a crucial role in this redefinition, in what I call, following Bryant (2005), the 'empersonment' of Kurdishness through music (chapter 2). Although initially the dengbêjs were not included in this project, they followed in the last decades and were mobilized for specific parts of it (chapter 4).…”