The transformation of the traditional Turkish art music in the entertainment scenes: The case of Fasıl spaces in İzmir

It is now less possible than ever to talk about a musical culture hasmaintained with its assumed `purity? in a postmodern world where musicalappropriation is everywhere evident. In practice, thus, any claim to be a trueessence of traditional Turkish art music will be emprically incorrect, simplybecause it has taken very complex forms over the centuries to adopt newconditions. This study generally investigates the transformation of thetraditional Turkish art music from the 19th century to present. If the changesof Turkish Art Music within the traditional contexts is one of the facts to bestudied, the differences in their present interpretations in the urbanentertainment spaces is the another fact. The role of the traditional Turkish artmusic in the entertainment scenes has been perceived in different waysthroughout the history of Ottoman and modern Turkey, allowing great scopefor different understandings. When the heterogenity of the musical stylesduring the last two decades is taken into account, it is obvious that the case ismore complex.Understanding the musical practices in the Fasıl spaces todaydepends on noting general views of the socio-cultural and musical change aswell as unique features of the relationship between the traditional Turkish ArtMusic and the urban entertainment scenes. Thus, the first chapter includes asurvey of theories concerning socio-cultural and musical change. The secondchapter deals with the change dynamics of the traditional Turkish art musicfrom the 19th century to the present. The third chapter is a case study withinthe framework based on the theoretical orientation and historical perspectivewhich is mentioned in the early chapters. This chapter focus on the ?FasılMekans?, which is one of the most important phenomenon of theentertainment world in the last decade. In the cities of Turkey today there are alot of these music venues. Although the change of traditional Turkish artmusic in the history has attracted many scholary attention, there have beenfew attempts to account for the Fasıl spaces as a specific phenomenon of thelast decade.In zmir, where this study is conducted as a case study, there arenumerous Fasıl spaces. The Fasıl spaces could be conceived as the spaces ofentertainment the people who have not been able to express themselveswithin the framework of prevaling entertainment venues. Despite quitedivergent social and musical experiences of musicians performing in Fasılspaces, many aspects of performance prosedure in terms of the preferencesof repertory and mode (makam) are common to all groups. The old songs areof central significance in the Fasıl spaces. However, the musical repertory inthe Fasıl Spaces does not just belongs to the traditional or old songs. Manysongs outside the traditional repertory are popular music songs. It can beconsidered that popular music songs may serve as the part of a spectacle thatwill attract people to the entertainment.It is possible to reduce the characteristic of the Fasıl spaces to fivemain features seperated by no very definite boundary lines:1) The Fasıl spaces is one of the spaces of identity transformed by theconcepts of the urban entertainments.2) The Fasıl mekans are `space? constructed through the traditional Turkishart music, and therefore involves notions of difference and social boundary.3) The Fasıl spaces are an intersection in the production and consumption ofa musical practice.4) The Fasıl spaces differ from the other entertainment spaces constructedthrough music such as `Rock Bar? and `Türkü Bar?.5) The Fasıl spaces are venues which encourage live performances of thetraditional Turkish art music.Consequently, this study hopes to contribute to the urban musicalpractices performing in the entertainment scenes.