The politics of folk dance staging in Turkey: Discourses and aesthetic approaches

Analyzing the staging politics of folk dances in relation to historical, political and social context in Turkey can bring out valuable data for the evaluation of the contemporary folk dance scene. This dissertation intends to develop an historical framework contributing to such critical work and to investigate how today's dominant aesthetic trends have been constructed. Methodologically, it is mainly carried out with the discourse analysis of written resources and additionally some visual recordings and interviews done with subjects dealing with folk dance activities in 70?s and 80's Turkey.In this dissertation, taking into consideration the ideological and aesthetic components, discourses and approaches shaping the folk dance scene in a historical continuum between the national construction period and the mid 80's are analyzed. The historical continuity and interruptions in folk dance staging in Turkey are analyzed. With the analysis of some cases from different countries and their impact on Turkey, a comparative approach is adopted. The role of such external influences on the aesthetic strategies is emphasized. Personal experiences abroad, Moiseyev Dance Ensemble's aesthetic influence, Turkish State Folk Dance Ensemble and folk dance competitions, all having impact on the folk dance scene in Turkey, are examined. Different discourses on authenticity in 70's and 80's are compared and such discussion is analyzed as a power struggle drawing the borderlines of the aesthetic concerns. ?Static? and ?dynamic? folklore approaches are interpreted as the reflections of the different reactions towards the social transformation in Turkey after 50's.