Crisis with shadows
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 27, 2008 00:00
ANKARA - The Culture Ministry has defended itself over its controversial Karagöz catalogue, where it used the figures of a "pig" and "Rabbi" together, commonly seen in the Greek version according to some experts.
These figures originally took place in some Anatolian Karagöz plays, the Ministry said in its written statement.
The Culture Ministry was criticized for Hellenizing the Anatolian popular culture figure, Karagöz, in a special catalogue submitted to UNESCO to prevent Greece obtaining a patent on the Turkish shadow puppet theatre, Karagöz. In an article published in the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Dec. 22, Ariana Ferentinou pointed to criticism that questioned the real origins of Karagöz.
"The pig is not a figure used in the Anatolian Karagöz. The editor of the catalogue had no idea," Mustafa Mutlu, the founding member of International Puppet Union, or UNIMA’s Turkish branch, said. "The pig figure, which is indeed a wild boar, is seen in one of the Karagöz plays, named ’Great Marriage.’ It is presented within a humorous expression since the boar is a part of a dowry," the Ministry claimed in its written response to the allegation which was submitted to the Daily News’ editor.
The Ministry also argued that the "Rabbi" image takes place in a play named "Swing," while pointing Dr. Metin And’s book on the subject, which includes the image as well.
"Another allegation in the article is that there is a ’fez’ in the descriptions of the 17th and 18th centuries of the catalogue, which does not match with historical and sociological information," the Ministry said, adding that the related descriptions were examined by a Karagöz expert, Metin Özlen; however, the red cap, allegedly a fez, used in those descriptions, is not fez but a "tufted cap".
The Culture Ministry was criticized for Hellenizing the Anatolian popular culture figure, Karagöz, in a special catalogue submitted to UNESCO to prevent Greece obtaining a patent on the Turkish shadow puppet theatre, Karagöz. In an article published in the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Dec. 22, Ariana Ferentinou pointed to criticism that questioned the real origins of Karagöz.
"The pig is not a figure used in the Anatolian Karagöz. The editor of the catalogue had no idea," Mustafa Mutlu, the founding member of International Puppet Union, or UNIMA’s Turkish branch, said. "The pig figure, which is indeed a wild boar, is seen in one of the Karagöz plays, named ’Great Marriage.’ It is presented within a humorous expression since the boar is a part of a dowry," the Ministry claimed in its written response to the allegation which was submitted to the Daily News’ editor.
The Ministry also argued that the "Rabbi" image takes place in a play named "Swing," while pointing Dr. Metin And’s book on the subject, which includes the image as well.
"Another allegation in the article is that there is a ’fez’ in the descriptions of the 17th and 18th centuries of the catalogue, which does not match with historical and sociological information," the Ministry said, adding that the related descriptions were examined by a Karagöz expert, Metin Özlen; however, the red cap, allegedly a fez, used in those descriptions, is not fez but a "tufted cap".