Folk Music
Turkey has very rich folkloric traditions which have been kept alive for centuries due to the characteristics of Turkish people. Folk music accompanies Anatolian people every single moment of their lives. Every individual creates his own folk music suitable for his own situation. People create their own music, and do not write it down, but pass it from one to the other, and the “asiklar” (troubadours) who sing and play this music keep it alive.
Minstrel Literature
Minstrel is a kind of poet seen in the Turkish Folk Literature since the beginning of 11th Century. It is believed that minstrel takes his quality of poet by drinking the “love wine” served by the sage in his dream and by seeing the “image of his lover”. The minstrel candidate generally sees a lover or a saz (a folkloric musical instrument) in his dream. The ornament of the dream is a dervish with white beard and sometimes one sometimes three full glasses. The glass can be usually seen as a bowl in the dream. The liquids in the bowls presented to the poets are called love full.
It takes the name wine with the effect of Persian Literature. These are named as; apprenticeship, quality of sage and love wine. Our minstrels are usually educated by an expert minstrel. They learn both the expert idioms and procedure and methods about the art performance from him. After adequately comprehending the ways in which the experts perform their art at the minstrel meetings and coffeehouses frequented by wandering minstrels, the poets who have become experts take apprentices for themselves and this tradition continues in this way.
The minstrel shows his knowledge, emotion and ability in the quarrel he makes. The aim in the quarrels is to compete and win. At least two minstrels come face to face at the quarrels. The quarrel begins with a respected person in the meeting or an expert poet telling a rhyme. The quarrel ends with the defeat of the minstrel who cannot find an appropriate quatrain to the rhyme. Story telling forms one of the main elements of Minstrel Literature. Most of the saz poets who are faithful to the tradition tell stories in the minstrel meetings.
Some of the expert minstrels tell folk stories that are created by the experts and on the other hand they tell the stories they have created. Cildirli Asik senlik, Sabit Mudami are minstrels who have contributed to the tradition from this aspect. The representatives of this tradition, who are called saman by Tonguzlar, Bo or Bugue by Mongols and Baryatlar, Oyun by Yakutlar, Ozan by Oguzlar, have expressed the life style, thoughts and feelings, points of view of the society to the events by their poems. Yunus Emre, Pir Sultan Abdal, Koroglu, Dadaloglu, Karacaoglan, Erzurumlu Emrah, Ercisli Emrah, Dertli, Asik Veysel have been the most important representatives of this tradition.
Folk Dance
Turkish folk dance is also very alive and variant. Each region has its characteristic dance with particular costumes, steps, rhythms and instruments. Every region’s dance reflects the characteristics of that region’s people. Turkish people are very inventive, creating new dances for different situations. There are particular dances for weddings, for harvest or for guest welcoming and so on, “Horon” a very fluid and swift dance, is particular to the Black Sea Region;
“Kasik Oyunu” played with spoons, is performed in from Konya to Silifke;
“Kilic-Kalkan” practiced in Bursa in memory of the capture of the city by the Ottomans;
“Zeybek” particular to the Aegean Region, symbolizes courage and heroism.
Folk Heroes
Very important figures in Turkish folklore are Karagoz and his friend Hacivat. According to the legend, they were working as workmen in the construction of Bursa Ulu Mosque. Their satiric jokes made the sultan very angry and anxious about whether Karagoz and Hacivat could arouse some thoughts about the abuses of the, state in the minds of ,others, so they were condemned to death.
The construction of the mosque was completed without them, but their comrades did not forget them and they kept their jokes alive, telling them over, and over. In time. the adventures of Karagoz and Hacivat gained a different extension and the traditional Turkish shadow puppet theater was born. Shadow puppets cut from camel hide, painted to look like Karagoz and Hacivat are held against a wide white cloth and operated as a strong light shines from behind. Karagoz and Hacivat come to life again and reached, today, also with the addition of some new characters.
The stories include everything about human existence, from moral plays to the classic encounters between husband and wife. Unfortunately, the shadow theaters are not seen today except in a few places and on some special occasions. In Bursa, the Karagoz Antique Shop sometimes organizes shadow puppet theater plays and often has modern duplications of Karagoz and Hacivat, for sale.
Turkish folklore is very much varied, there are some celebrated characters who reflect the peculiarities of Turkish people. Nasreddin Hoca is the best-known figure who has many legendary encounters with kings and common people. While seeming to act the fool, Nasreddin Hoca actually displays the folly of the other. Stories about Hoca have varied with the years and with the interpretation of the storytellers. They mostly begin, “One day Hoca…” and go on with his adventures.
Folk Sports
There are also some folkloric sports which are also occasions for celebration. They are very typical and traditional, and it is recommended that you try to witness some of these; you will find it really interesting. “Grease Wrestling” (yagli gures) is the Turkish national sport dating from Ottoman times and every year in July wrestling championships are held in Kirkpinar, outside Edirne. The contest is made more difficult by the fact that the wrestlers smear themselves with oil. The army was kept in good physical condition by this sport.
“Cirit” (javelin-throwing) is a fast-paced game played on horseback. The origin of this sport is in Central Asia, where it was developed by the soldiers in order to improve their fighting skills. Riders on fast horses throw short javelins to teammates who are also on horseback. The most important rule is to catch the javelin while flying. This game is mostly performed in Konya and Eastern Turkey.