Analysis of zakir service being conducted in Istanbul cemevis in the context of ritual, music performance and Alevi identity

As one of the twelve services taking place in Alevi cem rituals, the zakirs who do musical performance, have become visibile with the 2000s both in cem rituals and outside of the worship. The emergence of this visibility was effected by the cemevi construction process of the Alevi organization network in all over the world and also the institutionalization and standardization efforts for the zakir service. Since the 1990s, these institutionalization and standardization activities for Alevism continued as a part of the Alevi movement, and it was developed in parallel with the Alevi organization's institutional, Ministery of Culture's official and Alevi dede's personal efforts. However, the activities and musical performances of the zakirs both in and out of the ritual and their identity construction process of Alevism includes important features for understanding dynamics of today's Alevi identity. Especially the visibility of the zakirs through the ritual to out of it and their musical performances also reveals the role of music in the expression of Alevi identity. This analysis which focuses on the zakir service being conducted in Istanbul cemevis in the context of ritual, music performance and Alevi identity, is aimed to bring out the last fifteen years of change and transformation of Alevism and Alevi identity. With the musicology perspective, ethnographic methods such as participant observation and in-depth interviews was used in this research.