Medieval and Early Modern Performance in the Eastern Mediterranean (Late Medieval and Early Modern Studies) (Late Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 20)

This book brings to life an impressively broad array of performances in the Eastern Mediterranean. It covers many traditional types of performance, including singers, dancers, storytellers, street performers, clowns, preachers, shadow-puppeteers, fireworks displays, and semi-theatrical performances in folk and other celebrations. It explores performance of the secular as well as of the sacred in its many forms, including Sunni, Shiite, Sufi, and Alevi Muslims; Sephardic Jews and those in the Holy Land; and Armenian, Greek, and European Catholic Christians. The book focuses on the Medieval and Early Modern periods, including the Early Ottoman. Some papers reach backward into Late Antiquity, while others demonstrate continuity with the modern Eastern Mediterranean world. The articles discuss evidence for performers and performance coming from archival sources, architectural and manuscript images, musical notation, historical and ethnographic accounts, literary works, and oral tradition. Across the broad range of issues, chronology, and geography, certain fundamental topics are central: concepts of drama and theatricality; varied definitions of 'performance' and related terms; the sacred and the profane, and their frequent intersection; and complex relations between oral and written traditions. Illustrations xi Foreword by Richard Bauman xvii Acknowledgements xix Introduction xxi Part 1. Verbal Art as Performance Metin And 3 Storytelling as Performance / Metin And 5 The Maqama — Between a Tale and a One-Man Show: In Search of its Form of Performance / Revital Refael-Vivante 19 Orality, Text, and Performance in the 'Book of Dede Korkut' / Arzu Öztürkmen 37 Signals of Performability in the Croatian Glagolitic 'Legend of St John Chrysostom' / Marija-Ana Dürrigl 47 The Performance of Joinville's Credo / Michael Curschmann 63 Medieval Folktales, Modern Problems, and a Gifted Preacher: The Case of Rabbi Joseph Hayyim and the 'Tale of a Fox that Left his Heart at Home' / David Rotman 77 'The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus': Can We Reawaken Performance of this Hagiographical Folktale? / Evelyn Birge Vitz 89 Part 2. Performance under Imperial Realms How to Entertain the Byzantines: Some Remarks on Mimes and Jesters in Byzantium / Przemysław Marciniak 125 Between Admiration, Anxiety, and Anger: Views on Mimes and Performers in the Byzantine World / Tivadar Palágyi 149 Performance and Ideology in the Exchange of Prisoners between the Byzantines and the Islamic Near Easterners in the Early Middle Ages / Koray Durak 167 Fireworks in Seventeenth‐Century Istanbul / Suraiya Faroqhi 181 Clowns at Ottoman Festivities / Özdemir Nutku 195 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762): Her Turkish Performances / Danielle Haase-Dubosc 203 The Fusion of 'Zar-Bori' and Sufi 'Zikr' as Performance: Enslaved Africans in the Ottoman Empire / Ehud R. Toledano 215 Part 3. Modes and Varieties of Entertainment How Dark is the History of the Night, How Black the Story of Coffee, How Bitter the Tale of Love: The Changing Measure of Leisure and Pleasure in Early Modern Istanbul / Cemal Kafadar 243 One Man and His Audience: Comedy in Ottoman Shadow Puppet Performances / Daryo Mizrahi 271 Shadow Theatre, the 'Karagoz' ('Kara Gyooz') and the Texts of Ibn Daniyal (1248–1311?) / Mas'ud Hamdan 287 Armenian Traditional Music and the Performance Practices in the Armenian Community of Jerusalem / Noune Zeltsburg-Poghosyan 297 Constructing the Performed Identity of Sephardic Songs / Judith R. Cohen 311 Gypsy Musicians and Performances in the Ottoman Balkans / Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov 327 Part 4. Iconography Scenes of Performers in Byzantine Art, Iconography, Social and Cultural Milieu: The Case of Acrobats / Viktoria Kepetzi 345 Theatricality of Byzantine Images: Some Preliminary Thoughts / Anestis Vasilakeris 385 Theatrical Features in Armenian Manuscripts / Emma Petrosyan 399 Capital Initials with Images of Musicians in Armenian Manuscripts / Hrant Khachikyan 407 Glorious Noise of Empire / Gabrie la Currie 425 Part 5. Ritual Roots of Performance Representing the Moulid: Salah Jahin's Al-Layla al-Kabira between Populist and Nationalist Aspirations / Samia Mehrez 453 Performative Conceptions of Social Change: The Case of Nevruz Celebrations in Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Anatolia / Yücel Demirer 465 Alevi Ritual Movement: Its Representation in Fifteenth and Sixteenth-Century Texts and Today / Fahriye Dinçer 481 The Moreška Dance/Drama on the Island of Korčula (Croatia): A Turkish Connection? / Elsie Ivancich Dunin 503 The Show and the Ritual: The Mevlevî Mukabele in Ottoman Times / Cem Behar 515 The Ritual of Vardan Mamikonyan / Zhenya Khachatryan 533 Epilogue The Performative Turn in Recent Cultural History / Peter Burke 541 Index 563 Part 1. Verbal art as performance. Metin And Storytelling as performance / Metin And The Maqama : between a tale and a one-man show : in search of its form of performance / Revital Refael-Vivante Orality, text, and performance in the Book of Dede Korkut / Arzu Oztürkmen Signals of performability in the Croatian Glagolitic legend of St John Chrysostom / Marija-Ana Dürrigi The performance of Joinville’s Credo / Michael Curschmann Medieval folktales, modern problems, and a gifted preacher : the case of Rabbi Joseph Hayyim and the ‘Tale of a fox that left his heart at home’ / David Rotman The seven sleepers of Ephesus’ : can we reawaken performance of this hagiographical folktale? / Evelyn Birge Vitz Part 2. Performance under Imperial realms. How to entertain the Byzantines : some remarks on mimes and jesters in Byzantium / Przemys Ław Marciniak Between admiration, anxiety, and anger : views on mimes and performers in the Byzantine eorld / Tivadar Palágyi Performance and ideology in the exchange of prisoners between the Byzantines and the Islamic Near Easterners in the early Middle Ages / Koray Durak Fireworks in seventeenth-century Istanbul / Suraiya Faroqhi Clowns at Ottoman festivities / Özdemir Nutku Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) : her Turkish performances / Danielle Haase-Dubosc The fusion of Zar-Bori and Sufi Zikr as performance : enslaved Africans in the Ottoman Empire / Ehud R. Roledano Part 3. Modes and varieties of entertainment. How dark is the history of the night, how black the story of coffee, how bitter the tale of love: the changing measure of leisure and pleasure in early modern Istanbul / Cemal Kafadar One man and his audience : comedy in Ottoman shadow puppet performances / Daryo Mizrahi Shadow theatre, the Karagoz (Kara Gyooz) and the texts of Ibn Daniyal (1248–1311?) / Mas'ud Hamdan None Armenian traditional music and the performance practices in the Armenian community of Jerusalem / Noune Zeltsburg-Pochosyan Constructing the performed identity of Sephardic songs / Judith R. Cohen Gypsy musicians and performances in the Ottoman Balkans / Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov Part 4. Iconography. Scenes of performers in Byzantine art, iconography, social and cultural milieu : the case of acrobats / Victoria Kepetzi theatricality of Byzantine images : some preliminary thoughts / Anestis Vasilakeris Theatrical features in Armenian manuscripts / Emma Petrosyan Capital initials with images of musicians in Armenian manuscripts / Hrant Khachikyan Glorious noise of empire / Gabriela Currie Part 5. Ritual roots of performance. Representing the Moulid : Salah Jahin’s Al-Layla al-Kabira between populist and nationalist aspirations / Samia Mehrez Performative conceptions of social change : the case of Nevruz celebrations in pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Anatolia / Yücel Demirer Alevi ritual movement : its representation in fifteenth and sixteenth-century texts and today / Fahriye Dinçer The Moreška dance/drama on the island of Korčula (Croatia) : a Turkish connection? / Elsie Ivancich Dunin The show and the ritual : the Mevlevî Mukabele in Ottoman times / Cem Behar The ritual of Vardan Mamikonyan / Zhenya Khachatrenya Epilogue. The performative turn in recent cultural history / Peter Burke. An exploration of traditional performances in the Eastern Mediterranean in the medieval and Early Modern periods. This book brings to life an impressively broad array of performances in the Eastern Mediterranean. It covers many traditional types of performance, including singers, dancers, storytellers, street performers, clowns, preachers, shadow-puppeteers, fireworks displays, and semi-theatrical performances in folk and other celebrations. It explores performance of the secular as well as of the sacred in its many forms, including Sunni, Shiite, Sufi, and Alevi Muslims; Sephardic Jews and those in the Holy Land; and Armenian, Greek, and European Catholic Christians. The book focuses on the Medieval and Early Modern periods, including the Early Ottoman. Some papers reach backward into Late Antiquity, while others demonstrate continuity with the modern Eastern Mediterranean world. The articles discuss evidence for performers and performance coming from archival sources, architectural and manuscript images, musical notation, historical and ethnographic accounts, literary works, and oral tradition. Across the broad range of issues, chronology, and geography, certain fundamental topics are concepts of drama and theatricality; varied definitions of 'performance' and related terms; the sacred and the profane, and their frequent intersection; and complex relations between oral and written traditions. An exploration of traditional performances in the Eastern Mediterranean in the medieval and Early Modern periods. This book brings to life a broad array of performances in the Eastern Mediterranean. It covers many traditional types of performance, including singers, dancers, storytellers, street performers, clowns, preachers, shadow-puppeteers, fireworks displays, and semi-theatrical performances in folk and other celebrations. It explores performance of the secular as well as of the sacred in its many forms, including Sunni, Shiite, Sufi, and Alevi Muslims; Sephardic Jews and those in the Holy Land; and Armenian, Greek, and European Catholic Christians. The book focuses on the Medieval and Early Modern periods, including the Early Ottoman. Some papers reach backward into Late Antiquity, while others demonstrate continuity with the modern Eastern Mediterranean world. The articles discuss evidence for performers and performance coming from archival sources, architectural and manuscript images, musical notation, historical and ethnographic accounts, literary works, and oral tradition. Across the broad range of issues, chronology, and geography, certain fundamental topics are central: concepts of drama and theatricality; varied definitions of performance and related terms; the sacred and the profane, and their frequent intersection; and complex relations between oral and written traditions On the large eastern edge of the Mediterranean, the period from the start of the Crusades through the Ottoman era knew - and brought into mutual contact - a truly remarkable array of performances and performers, of a multitude of types. But of course examination of performance in the Eastern Mediterranean during the medieval and early modern era requires some careful conceptualization: of 'performance' and 'performer'; of 'the Mediterranean' as well - this region also often being termed the 'Muslim world', the 'Middle East', or the 'Ottoman domain'. This book represents a preliminary attempt to lay out and analyse a broad set of performance genres in this particular geographical setting