Köçek
The Köçek (pl. Turkish köçekler , German historical Kötschek ) were (and are) in Turkey and the Ottoman Empire gay , often very beautiful young men who are on legal practice of homosexuality dressed as women and as Rakkas were set or dancer. The dance of Kjuchek in Albania and Bulgaria is derived from the Ottoman word Kötschek . In Albania, however, the men mostly dance in the traditional Fustanella skirts.
origin
The Turkish word means “young animal” and is derived from the Persian word kutschak , which means “small” or “young” and which in turn is the Persian pronunciation of the Turkish word küçük (“small”). In the Crimean Tatar and Crimean Chak languages, the same spelled word köçek means “baby camel”.
The culture of Köçek, which experienced its golden age from the 17th to the 19th century, had its origins in the traditions of the Ottoman palaces, especially in the harems . The genres of Köçek enriched both the music and the dance of the Ottomans .
The support of the sultans was a major factor in its development, as the early stages of Köçek art were confined to palace circles. From there, the practice spread through independent dance groups across the empire.
Culture
A Köçek began his education at the age of seven or eight; this was considered completed after six years of study and practice. His dancer career was to continue as long as he was beardless and kept his youthful appearance.
The Köçeks were often recruited from among the empire's non - Muslim subjects, including Jews , Roma , Greeks , Albanians , Armenians, and others. Sometimes it was also boys who were forcibly torn from their families through the boy harvest . The dances known as köçek oyunu combined Arabic , Greek , Assyrian and Kurdish elements. In summary, these dances were called köçekce , which were performed in the form of suites in a given melody. For its part, it was a mixture of Sufi , Balkan and Classical Anatolian music. Some dances of the Köçeks can still be found in Turkish pop music today. The accompanying music included the davul-köçek , whereby the davul was a large drum, one side covered with goat skin and the other with sheep skin, which could generate different sounds. A Köçek's talent was measured not only by his dancing skills, but also by his handling of the accompanying instruments, especially the castanets known as çarpare . The dancers were often accompanied by an entire orchestra, each of which played four to five kaba kemençe and laouto as main instruments, which were intended exclusively for the young gay men. There were also two singers. A Köçek dance in the Ottoman seraglio comprised one to two dozen Köçeks and numerous musicians. They often appeared at weddings and circumcision celebrations ( Sünnet Dügün) as well as bairams . But the gay men were also called in for the personal entertainment of the sultan and the Turkish aristocracy.
The young men often wore a lot of make-up, curled their hair, and hid their long curls under a small black or red velvet hat adorned with coins, jewels and gold. Her usual robe consisted of a tiny, red embroidered velvet jacket with a gold embroidered silk shirt, a sirwal (baggy harem pants), a long skirt, and a gold belt that was knotted at the back. They were described as "sensual, attractive, feminine" and their dance as "sexually provocative". The dancers slowly moved their hips vertically and horizontally, snapping their fingers rhythmically and making suggestive gestures. Often acrobatics, tumbling and fighting simulation ( wrestling ) were part of the act. The Köçeks were often sexually available, for the highest bidder in the passive role.
The names and backgrounds of the Köçeks in Constantinople in the 18th century are well documented. Among the better known Köçeks from the late 18th century are Romani Benli Ali from Dimetoka (now Greece ); Büyük (large) Afet (born as Yorgaki and converted to Islam - but of Croatian origin), Küçük (smaller) Afet (born as Kaspar ) of Armenian descent and Pandeli from the Greek island of Chios . During this time there were at least 50 Köçeks with the status yildiz (Star). They included the Muslim Roma -Köçek Ismail köçek Ismail, who had to be booked weeks or months in advance at a very high price.
Well-known poets like Fasil bin Taher vom Enderun wrote texts, and classical composers like the court musician Hammamizade Ismail Dede Efendi (1778–1846) composed Köçekçes for the most famous Köçeks. Many meyhanes in Constantinople (night taverns) that offered meze , rakı or wine hired Köçeks. Before the performance began, the Köçeks danced among the audience. The competition for their attention often caused unrest and arguments in the audience. Men went wild, smashed glasses, yelled at each other hoarsely, or often fought to the death just to snag the boys' sexual favors. Such wooing for the favor of gay men led to the final fight against this practice under Sultan Abdul Medschid .
Around 1805 there were more than 600 Köçek dancers working in the taverns of the Turkish capital. They were banned from working in 1837, as arguments about the male dancers often broke out among the spectators. With the slow abolition of the harem culture under Sultan `Abdu'l-`Aziz (1861–1876) and Abdul Hamid II (1876–1908), Köçek dance and music lost the support of their imperial patrons and gradually disappeared.
The Köçeks were much more popular than the Çengis (" belly dancers "), their female counterparts. Some Köçek men were known to have been killed by the Çengis , who were extremely jealous and angry at the men's attention.
Modern Köçeks in today's Turkey
A modern interpretation of the gay Ottoman men and youths is the film Köçek (1975) by director Nejat Saydam . The film depicts the life of Caniko, a somewhat feminine youth who also has problems with his gender identity and is not sure.
See also
literature
- AYVERDI, Sâmiha ; Istanbul Geceleri The nights of Istanbul , ed.Baha , Istanbul, 1977.
- ENDERUNLU Fazil bey; Çenginame , 1759
- Erdogan, Sema Nilgün: Sexual life in Ottoman Empire , ed. Dönence, Istanbul, 1996. p. 88-92
- JANSSEN, Thijs: Transvestites and Transsexuals in Turkey , in Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies , edited by Arno Schmidt and Jehoeda Sofer, ed.Harrington Park Press, New York, 1992
- KOÇU, Resad Ekrem , Eski Istanbul'da Meyhaneler ve Meyhane Köçekleri, Istanbul Ansiklopedisi Notlari No
- ÖZTUNA, Yilmaz: Türk Musikisi Ansiklopedisi , Milli Egitim Basimevi, Istanbul, 1976. p. 23
- SM ÜSEINOV: Rusça-Qirimtatarca, Qirimtatarca-Rusça lugat , Aqmescit, Tezis, 2007.
Web links
- Turkish Cultural Foundation: Court dance in the Ottoman Empire
- Köçek (Dancing Boy) - Homosexual Art of Turkey
- A Question of Köçek - Men in Skirts
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Prof. S. Sehvar BESIROGLU: Music, Identity, Gender: Çengis, Köçeks, Çöçeks. (No longer available online.) ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory, Musicology Department, archived from the original on July 15, 2011 ; accessed on January 14, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sevan Nisanyan : köçek. Nisanyansozluk.com, accessed December 5, 2011 .
- ↑ SM Üseinov: Rusça-Qirimtatarca, Qirimtatarca-Rusça lugat. In: Tezis, Aqmescit . Accessed in 2007 .
- ↑ a b Stephen O. Murray, Will Roscoe: Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature . NYU Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8147-7468-7 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Mevâid'de escinsel kältür. (No longer available online.) In: ibnistan.net. Archived from the original ; accessed on March 4, 2016 .
- ↑ ?? e ?? e ?? t? P? A - ?? e ??????? ???? s ?? f ???! Archive.enet.gr, accessed December 5, 2011 .
- ^ The Classical Turkish Music: Köçekçe. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 15, 2013 ; Retrieved April 22, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jasmin Jahal: Male Belly Dance in Turkey. Retrieved February 2002 .
- ↑ Danielle J. van Dobben: Dancing Modernity: Gender, sexuality and the state in the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic . The University of Arizona, Near Eastern Studies, 2008, ISBN 0-549-72231-9 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ^ A b c Stavros Stavrou Karayanni: Dancing Fear & Desire: Race, Sexuality and Imperial Politics in Middle Eastern Dance . WLU Press, 2006, ISBN 0-88920-926-X ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ^ A b Tullia Magrini: Music and Gender: Perspectives from the Mediterranean . University of Chicago Press, 2003, ISBN 0-226-50166-3 , pp. 96 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ^ Judith Lynne Hanna: Dance, sex, and gender: signs of identity, dominance, defiance, and desire . 1988, p. 57 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Arno Schmitt: Sexuality and eroticism among males in Moslem societies . Routledge, 1992, ISBN 1-56024-047-4 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ^ Tazz Richards: The Belly Dance Book: Rediscovering the Oldest Dance . 2000, p. 11, 27, 28, 29-37, 32 .
- ↑ Aziza Sa'id: A Question of Köçek - Men in Skirts. Retrieved August 31, 2008 .
- ↑ KÖÇEK. (No longer available online.) Pink Life QueerFest, archived from the original on July 4, 2013 ; Retrieved April 22, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
