The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

At the heart of The Republic of Love are the voices of three musicians—queer nightclub star Zeki Müren, arabesk originator Orhan Gencebay, and pop diva Sezen Aksu—who collectively have dominated mass media in Turkey since the early 1950s. Their fame and ubiquity have made them national icons—but, Martin Stokes here contends, they do not represent the official version of Turkish identity propagated by anthems or flags; instead they evoke a much more intimate and ambivalent conception of Turkishness.

Using these three singers as a lens, Stokes examines Turkey’s repressive politics and civil violence as well as its uncommonly vibrant public life in which music, art, literature, sports, and journalism have flourished. However, Stokes’s primary concern is how Müren, Gencebay, and Aksu’s music and careers can be understood in light of theories of cultural intimacy. In particular, he considers their contributions to the development of a Turkish concept of love, analyzing the ways these singers explore the private matters of intimacy, affection, and sentiment on the public stage.

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The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

At the heart of The Republic of Love are the voices of three musicians—queer nightclub star Zeki Müren, arabesk originator Orhan Gencebay, and pop diva Sezen Aksu—who collectively have dominated mass media in Turkey since the early 1950s. Their fame and ubiquity have made them national icons—but, Martin Stokes here contends, they do not represent the official version of Turkish identity propagated by anthems or flags; instead they evoke a much more intimate and ambivalent conception of Turkishness.

Using these three singers as a lens, Stokes examines Turkey’s repressive politics and civil violence as well as its uncommonly vibrant public life in which music, art, literature, sports, and journalism have flourished. However, Stokes’s primary concern is how Müren, Gencebay, and Aksu’s music and careers can be understood in light of theories of cultural intimacy. In particular, he considers their contributions to the development of a Turkish concept of love, analyzing the ways these singers explore the private matters of intimacy, affection, and sentiment on the public stage.

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The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

by Martin Stokes
The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

The Republic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music

by Martin Stokes

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$37.99 

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Overview

At the heart of The Republic of Love are the voices of three musicians—queer nightclub star Zeki Müren, arabesk originator Orhan Gencebay, and pop diva Sezen Aksu—who collectively have dominated mass media in Turkey since the early 1950s. Their fame and ubiquity have made them national icons—but, Martin Stokes here contends, they do not represent the official version of Turkish identity propagated by anthems or flags; instead they evoke a much more intimate and ambivalent conception of Turkishness.

Using these three singers as a lens, Stokes examines Turkey’s repressive politics and civil violence as well as its uncommonly vibrant public life in which music, art, literature, sports, and journalism have flourished. However, Stokes’s primary concern is how Müren, Gencebay, and Aksu’s music and careers can be understood in light of theories of cultural intimacy. In particular, he considers their contributions to the development of a Turkish concept of love, analyzing the ways these singers explore the private matters of intimacy, affection, and sentiment on the public stage.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780226775074
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 10/15/2010
Series: Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 240
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Martin Stokes is University Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at Oxford University and a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford.He is the author or editor of several books including The Arabesk Debate: Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Note on Orthography, Notational Conventions, and Names
List of Illustrations

1 Introduction
2 Zeki Müren: Sun of Art, Ideal Citizen
3 The Affectionate Modernism of Orhan Gencebay
4 Why Cry? Sezen Aksu’s Diva Citizenship
5  Three Versions of “Beloved Istanbul”
6  Conclusion

Sources
Index

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