We can not separate the performance and the puppet characters of the shadow theater from the social context and ethos of the Ottoman Empire in which it was generated and firmly located in its context. It was a large empire spread over three continents; Europe, Asia and Africa. Its population consisted of several nationalities, religions and ethnic groups, all of which saw Istanbul as their capital, a natural centre.
Karagoz also is firmly rooted in the culture of Istanbul. Shadow theater is not expected to introduce individualized traits in its puppet characters. They are stock types and no more. Certain definite types have come to be associated in the common mind, not only with nationalities but with occupations. For instance the Anatolian Baba Himmet is invariably a wood cutter, the Jew is dealer in secondhand goods or a moneylender, while the Laz from Black Seas is boatman or a tinsmith. There is however, a certain amount of truth in generalizing about ethnic and national traits, each being not only a cartoon symbol but also a national type. Actually, if it were possible to define a Turkish Jew at all, one could say he is penurious, thrifty, cunning and cowardly. At least, the accepted joke concerning the mythical characteristic attributed to the Turkish Jew has travelled so far long along these lines that in the average person’s mind it has become almost a label for his character. These puppet character traits account, in a way, for a number of the speech idiosyncrasies that affect the figures dialects. Each native of each separate district has his own special version of the Turkish language, his own peculiarities in the choice of word, inflection, and diction. This serves not only to introduce the puppet character, but also as a comic device. It also provides a main means of creating dramatic tension. For instance during conversation between puppet characters, it results in much comedy from the misunderstandings which can arise. It is due to the respective grammatical vagaries that much of the flavor of these dialects can be captured. Among these can be cited a stubborn insistence on misplacing the negative, verb misuse-especially mistaken verb forms and confusion of tenses. In addition, interrogative sentences abound, as do inversions of sentence structure, common misuse of prepositions and repeated uses of distinctive interjections. Some types are addicted to the use of certain words, or include a number of words from their own native language which have been carried over into the dialect. Dropping entire syllables, lopping off the final syllable in multi-syllabled words; changing, adding or omitting consonants or vowels, are other devices which prevail. Some rely more on the inflection of the voice than on the choice of word. All help to reduce the dialect to a caricature.
We are comforted with three clearly defined groups:
(1)The pillars or the basic puppets , those who generally headed the list of the puppet characters and from the backbone of the plot and appear with the greatest frequency like: Karagoz and Hacivat
(2)Feminine puppets , child characters puppets , Hacivat's daughter, servants, old woman, witches and dancing girls. Feminine puppets and child characters puppets , though frequently present, occasionally had minor parts to play. However some plays are rich in feminine roles. There are also the wives of Karagoz and Hacivat, their children and Hacivat’s brothers.
(3)Taklits, roles rich in comic value, were characters such as professionals, provincials, colonials and foreigners. There were also teratological characters such as dwarfs, stammerers, hunchbacks or mentally defectives like opium addicts and the neighborhood idiot. Many of these were secondary characters but others who were essential to the action. Their weaknesses and characteristics are stressed and stereotyped. For example the Albanian is always ignorant and boastful while the Jew, is seem to be malicious,
cowardly and egoistic.
Karagoz and Hacivat: It is always doubtful whether Karagoz and Hacivat ever really existed and, as we have already seen, there are many legends about this. Karagoz was supposed by some to be a gypsy and there are many allusions and much evidence in the plays to support this theory. Karagoz has a round face, his eye is boldly designed with a large black pupil, hence his name -Black Eye-. He has a pug nose and around thick curly black beard. His head, completely bald, sports an enormous turban which, when knocked off, suddenly expose his bald head which always provokes laughter. In all dialogue between Karagoz and Hacivat, we find Hacivat always uses flowing language full of prose rime while Karagoz uses the language of the common people. His promptness with repartee procured for him his fame and reputation. This contrasts artificiality with simplicity and is the first satire to attain these differences. This contrasting language is also noticeable in Hacivat,s erudition. He can recite famous poems, has a vast knowledge of music, is conversant with the names of various rare spices, the terminology of gardening, many varied encyclopedic extracts, and with the etiquette of the aristocracy. This however is superficial and gives him only a scholastic type of making a living for himself and his family. Because he has no trade, he is usually unemployed and fails to provide for his family, and has enough sense to realize that to rectify this, he does not need Hacivat,s superficial knowledge. Though he is stupid and easily taken
in, he is constantly able to deceive Hacivat and others.
Hacivat is reflective character with a pointed turned-up beard. Each movement is well calculated and worked out before hand. Karagoz, on the contrary is impulsive and his character is shown by his speech and behaviour. Hacivat,s reasoning limits his actions. Even though while on the screen, he makes few gestures with hands, Karagoz is the more dynamic and energetic. Where
Hacivat is always ready to accept the situation and maintain the status quo and establishment, Karagoz is always eager to try out new ideas and constantly misbehaves himself.
Hacivat is always bound by the moral principles of the upper class and can easily adapt himself to these principles. He sometimes becomes instrumental in providing pleasure for the upper classes and is always worried that Karagoz,s tactlessness will spoil these pleasures. Karagoz, the traditional symbol of the -little man- , on the other hand, finds that his tactless behaviour generally upsets most intrigues. Hacivat also serves as a foil to each character, underlining their helplessness and distress. Most of these lesser characters depend upon the machination of Hacivat to provide either the needed money, job or house. He is loquacious, credulous and good natured. Usually Hacivat offers useful advice to others, aiding them in their schemes. Because of his knowledge of etiquette and language and his opportunism, he is a most desirable, like able character in the
neighbourhood. He is not only the local headman but is looked upon as counsellor, especially by the neighbourhood spendthrift. When he partners Karagoz in various undertakings, he prefers merely to find the clients and share the profit. Conversely Karagoz is not respected. He is always insulted by the dandies, is a target for the anger of the opium addict a victim of the village idiot,s practical jokes and the threats of the neighbourhood
drunkards.
Woman in Karagoz plays are young, middle-aged , old and children , flighty, quarrelsome, only just faithful and always prone to gossip. The main type is always flighty and given to intrigue. In nearly every play, this type causes a scandal in the neighbourhood. Karagoz,s wife often abuses him for not feeding her and not clothing her. As the women in Karagoz are always dubbed by male puppeteers, they speak in cracked voices. They wear a loose, sleeved, cloak-like garment called ferace, two pieces of fine muslin or tarlatan called yasmak, folded and pinned in such a way that one edge covers the mouth and lower part of nose and the other passes across the brow above the eyes, while the rest hangs behind. As the veil is very thin, the features can be quite-clearly seen. They wear a blue bonnet called hotoz, patent leather or velvet slippers on their feet and each carries an umbrella. Some wear a red ferace, a black alpaca thrown over the head and held by a pin under the chin, entirely concealing the face. Courtesans always have their breasts half or fully exposed. Some wear slipper boots of yellow Morocco leather called cedik and carry a stick in their hand. If the woman character represents a Negro slave, she wears black gloves, a red ferace, red pabuc (a strong soled shoe) and a
white head band.
Celebi is presented in a sympathetic light. He is not caricatured and ridiculed as are so many of the other characters. Usually he is a dandified young man whose love for a courtesan or a girl of good family motivates the action, and provides the plays with plots. We notice he has the ability to charm the opposite sex. Firstly, a zampara, a gallant and a elegant dandy, he is also young, rich and a spend-thrift, who assumes a careful and rather self-conscious elegance of dress and, in the type of stock-role he plays, runs after women, being a well-versed but flighty youth. He speaks with an educated Istanbul accent, pouring out his Arabic and other learned phrases. He is dressed in European style. He wears a pince-nez, he carries a cane and sports patent leather shoes. He wears a clerical style frock-coat, which in cut, hue and the shape of the collar, resembles precisely the -stambouline- , so named from its origin in Istanbul.
Tiryaki, the opium addict, spends all his time smoking opium and sleeping in the neighbourhood coffee house. He can easily be identified by his pipe, his fan and a huge humped shoulder. He is a flippant type but always tries to look serious. He speaks like Hacivat but has a bad habit of frequently going to sleep in the middle of a conversation and snoring loudly. He is inclined to make mountains out of molehills. For mimics, the imitation of Tiryaki had been very popular. Evliya mentions the
following, when he was introducing a famous mimic of his time: “His brother, not a less clever mimic, who was himself an opium addict; had the greatest success in representing their ridiculous fancies. A Tiryaki smoking, cuts his own finger, which bleeds amazingly. He bleeds so much that he is falling down. At last he is told that the bleeding will not cease till a boy shall paint with his own finger,s blood the letter Elif on his face.
Bebe Ruhi, the dwarf has an impediment in his speech and pronounces r and s as y. He asks the same questions like child over and over again until people become tired of listening to him. Sometimes he is a dwarf and sometimes a hunchback. When he is a dwarf he is called by such names as Beberuhi or altikulac (six-fathom), and is shown to be fidgety, talkative and extremely boastful. He often does odd jobs around the neighbourhood and is somewhat spoiled by the pity of the locals. Karagoz on many occasions, has to beat him in order to get rid of him.
Drunkard and Braggart: He always uses slang and Karagoz can notunderstand him. He occasionally threatens Karagoz but when the latter becomes angry, the drunkard shows his cowardice and runs away. He blusters in everywhere with his armoury of weapons and lays down the law, as he sees it. His threats are by word rather than by action. He is tipsy, loquacious and moves like a drunkard. Matiz is another name for him. However he is quite often harmless in sprite of his appearance and loud voice, yet a sharp streak of sadism is nevertheless apparent. He is always ready to sing. He is a braggart and always interferes when there is any kind of immoral situation. Authority is represented by this character, sometimes as a kind of gendarme, and at others a deus ex machine who administers justice. He does not always uphold the law as he is in league with some of the immoral woman of the neighbourhood. He is extremely proud of having murdered several people himself, including his own children and family. He has unique methods for killing. He is fond of relating the details of these murders and the locals are so frightened of him that they obey all his orders without question. One of his jokes is to pretend to cut off Karagoz head. When Karagoz tries to avoid having his head cut off, Matiz reproaches him saying: -Would you begrudge such a rotten and worthless head?-. It is certain that there were many different types of drunkard throughout the ages. Swaggering Tuzsuz Deli Bekir who blusters and threatens, carrying a wicked-looking sword and spreading terror in his wake is another. He comes in towards the end of the pieces and makes short work of Karagoz and others. Another kind is the rowdy Kulhanbeyi. His jacket is slung over one shoulder and his walk is lop sides. Around his fez there is a silk scarf, his trousers are hemmed on the lower part; his shoes are low at the back, with egg shaped heels, and he has a silk shawl wrapped down his middle which he tucks in at the waist. He also wears a blue silk shirt, the collar of which is unbuttoned and the sleeves of which are twisted. He holds prayer beads and walks in a unique way. Sometimes instead of being a braggart, he is a swashbuckling character from the Western coast of Turkey where he is known as Efe or Zeybek. He does not act like a drunkard but his appearance makes people obey him. He wears an embroidered jacket which is so short that it barely reaches his elbows. His white cotton salvar, except for their extravagant width, might be a pair of bathing drawers. He has leggings of sheep’s wool but his legs, from the middle of the thigh to his socks, are bare. His fez, which is at least eighteen inches high, is wound with a gaily coloured kerchief, fringed and tasselled. Strapped in front of his waist shawl is a capacious leather pocket containing his scimitar, pistols and tobacco. Slung across his back is his long gun. He tries to restore discipline in the neighbourhood all by himself and is usually a man of good intentions. This completes the descriptions of locals of the neighbourhood.
As the Ottoman Empire consisted of several ethnics groups, its society was rather complex. Most outsiders came to Istanbul to find work or to practice their special trades and crafts. There as a resemblance among the central Anatolian types.
Turk or Baba Himmet, for example, is the invincible wood cutter from Anatolia, a tell man (the tallest of the shadow figure
s, as we have already mentioned), carrying a large axe on his shoulder. Karagoz sometimes tries to get him to hear by speaking the words into his cupped hands and throwing them up to his ear. This method failing, a ladder is brought and Karagoz climbs up it to shout in Baba Himmet’s ear. -Turk- speaks in a rough way and fails to understand many of the things he sees in town. He often uses blasphemy to answer Karagoz but does not become angry when Karagoz teases him about his rough language or calls him a bear. He has a good heart and always thinks and talks about his sweetheart in his own village. Those from Kayseri and Bolu are similar to Turk but are better acquainted with Istanbul life. The man from Kayseri is a seller of salted meat called pastirma, a grocer, painter or shoemaker, and the other from Bolu is invariably a cook. Contrary to Turk, they are extremely cunning but to not know much about town etiquette. The one from Kayseri wears a rad salvar, and a high fez with a white riband. Over his shoulder, a short red jacket is worn, on his waist is a belt in which he carries weapons. The man from Egin in usually s butcher with red, full plaited knee-breeches and a belt in which he sports a gun. He wears a short red jacket.
Laz, who comes from the Black sea coast, is either a boatman, a wool beater or a tinsmith. He has a strong Black Sea coast accent. He is very talkative and also speaks quickly. He takes approximately fifteen minutes just to say -hello- and is always very jittery. As he usually so busy talking himself, he can not listen to what other people say. He has a habit of becoming angry in a very short time. Karagoz often has to forcibly close Laz’s mouth in order to get a word in himself. His clothes include a yellow vest lined with linen, pantaloons, pleated and creased at the back which reaching to the knees and are called zipka. On his head he wears a hood (sargi). He often dances on the stage a Black Sea dance called horon, which is characterized by alert, tense shivering movements, the trembling of the entire body from head to foot, sudden sharp kneeling and springing up at the rebound. This fits in which the basic traits of his character.
Rumelili or Muhacir is the immigrant from the Balkans. He speaks very slowly and is either a wrestler or carter. He often speaks about his village and the fact that he is a wrestler. He is very proud of his wrestling abilities but actually he usually loses his bouts. He always tries to look intelligent and cautious. He is boastful his supposed success as a wrestler.
Kurd, is the neighbourhood night watchman and often uses Kurdish words. He has a vacant expression but tries to act in a haughty manner. He wears a conical felt cap, and carries a long staff. He wears sandals of raw hide, blue salvar, a half coat without sleeves and a woollen, motley west.
Acem or Persian is a trader in shawls, carpets and woman,s dresses. Either that or he is a money lender. He sometimes enters riding a horse and continually recites poetry which he delivers with emphatic enunciation. He often exaggerates and talks of large sums of money but his actual business transactions usually concern very small sums. He becomes irritable and haughty when Karagoz plays little jokes on him. Hacivat, however, flatters him by calling him -The Rose of Iran-. He is also a connoisseur of poetry. He wears trousers over a kind of vest lined with linen which reaches to the knees, called entari and held up by a white belt. He has a white shirt, a high black lambskin hat, a blue or black robe open in the front with sleeves scarcely reaching to the elbow called cubbe. He is usually from Azerbaijan, the Turk section of Persia.
Arab is a merchant or traveller who wears a shawl on his head, red linen salvar and sandals with straps. He often has a funny name. He is sometimes a beggar, a sweet seller or a coffee grinder. He has a habit of praying whenever he has to pay money and sometimes when he receives money he pretends to pray for the giver but actually curses him. He is very stupid and can not grasps things easily. His conversation consists merely of repetitious question such as Who?, Whom?, When?, Where? Or What?, which he continually repeats, speaking in either the Egyptian or the Damascus dialect. Another type of arab is the negro, -Arab- also meaning ‘negro’ in Turkish. He is shown as a caricature of a eunuch both in dialect and stupidity.
Albanian (Arnavut) either sells a drink made of fermented millet called boza, or he is a gardener, a game keep or a cattle trader. He tries to speak politely but, because of his accent, always creates a humorous impression. He is ignorant and continually sings to himself a song mainly about vegetables. He is also a rogue. When he gets angry, he has a habit of referring to his pistol in an off hand way as though murder were a mere detail. He wears white breeches, baggy at the hips and gathered at the ankles. On his head is a white skull cap. Gaily colored and voluminous towels are swathed around the waist, completing his ensemble is a wide linen skirt and a red vest.
Greek or Frank, is portrayed as European or Levantine, a la franc, being usually by profession a physician. He enters dancing a
polka and interpolating Greek or French words in his speech. He speaks the worst Turkish of all the Empire types. He can also be a tailor, a merchant or a tavern keeper. In spite of his broken Turkish, he is somewhat flippant and tries to make puns in Turkish. He is a coward and an unlikeable character. He wears a European costume and carries a hat and a cane.
Armenian is usually the major of a large house hold. He has no sense of humour, a limited intelligence and is very serious about his work. Called ayvaz, he can also appear as a waiter or butler. His garb includes black salvar, a black jacket with short sleeves, a red girdle, a red pointed hat or fez and a red apron. Another type of Armenian is a jeweller or fancy draper. Contrary to the first type, he is more refined and appreciates the finger things in life. He plays a Turkish lute but is not successful enough to be able to afford the luxuries of this life. Karagoz always teases him. Alternative clothing could be a long black gown, a fez, trousers and an umbrella with a broken handle.
Jew (Cud, Yahudi or cifit), the haggling Jew is a familiar character and is either seen as a money lender, a second hand dealer or a peddler. He tries out many obscene puns on Karagoz and, using his ungrammatical, broken Turkish as an excuse, he maliciously changes Karagoz,s name to give it a bad meaning and a result, Karagoz becomes angry and wants to beat him. He is a malicious and vulgar type. He wears black salvar, a loose linen robe open in the front called cubbe, and a keveza, a black hat with a blue turban. There is a sack on his back. When Karagoz pretends to go at him, or even only to suggest that he intends to do so, the Jew begins to shout and scream as though he were actually being severally hurt. When Karagoz makes the motion of tickling him, even while till at a distance, the Jew begins to laugh. While he is complaining in a loud voice he nevertheless always finds time to revile Karagoz. He is a miser and haggler. Even after he agrees on a price, he complains that it is too high and he can not pay. He is also a coward and when all the other characters in the neighbourhood decide to attack the drunkard, the Jew does not join them but runs away.
These are basic figures and stock characters. On the other hand, each play requires because of the exigency of the plot several additional characters. Here are some to serve as illustrations. The Jew,s child, an old Jew, Jews carrying a coffin, a Jewish rabbi, the conjurer Jew, a malicious witch-like old gypsy woman called Bok ana, a midwife, a gypsy, a tartar, a negro who plays a string instrument, coffee grinders, dancing boys, dancing girls, a furnace operator (is an Armenian), a priest, a servant in the public bath, the chief of the dancers company, a stammerer, a conjurer,s assistant, musicians, a baby in a cradle, Hacivat’s three brothers ( child characters puppets ), the villain, a himhim (snuffler), a sly insane man, minstrels, a magician, witches, the drunkard’s wife, a rope dancer, woman sent to inspect a prospective bride, a pregnant bride, a circadian slave, Hacivat’s and Karagoz,s sons, and daughters ( child characters puppets ), the Laz,s son, Tahir, Tahir,s father, Zuhre’s father, the Persian servant, and a hermaphrodite are among other innumerable character who appear each having different degrees of importance.
*Traditional Turkish Shadow Theater, By Metin And
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