Meet the motley crew of Ottoman Turkish puppets

Posted on September 11, 2012 by lizcameron

For those of you just tuning in – or dipping in – to this blog, you might be interested to learn about the little puppets that have moved into my head as I navigate a cross-cultural marriage, but let me back up a bit…

Flannery O’Connor is credited with saying “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say,” and this is true for me when it comes to figuring out my cross-cultural relationship…

So, this blog documents the ongoing road trip through the cross-cultural marriage of one American woman married to one Turkish man. Just one half of one Turkish-American couple, making sense of what goes on in day-to-day life.

Part of acculturating to my own cross-cultural relationship included getting in touch with the Karagöz shadow puppets that took residence in the back seat of my head (and the car) both Stateside – and in Türkiye.

Karagöz Oyunları, or the particularly Turkish art form of shadow puppetry, is famous for heightening stereotypes and truths about the nature of people, places and things in the way that only puppets can.

Depending on the situation, my Karagöz puppets take on the roles of the yea-sayer, the naysayer, the devil, the angel, the manners expert, the feminist, the religious person, the sloppy drunk and many more…let’s see how they do as relationship coaches!

What better country to use as the foil for a discussion on cross-cultural relationships than Turkey, famous for connecting east and west despite the at-times trite-ness of the metaphor. The Karagöz tradition of heightening stereotypes first noted during Ottoman times is, I hope, an interesting conceit for writing about one couple’s own road trips through Turkey on their quest for the marriage model that fits them – their own merger of east and west, similarities and differences abounding.

This blog is offered in semi-chronological order starting in 2004 and continuing in 2012 and beyond. Although this blog is written by me, it is important to me that readers know that the decision to “go public” with our stories about our cross-cultural relationship was mutual. I try to post weekly.

The major characters (so far) are listed below.  I am forever indebted to them for helping me through my Turkish-American life…

Bebe Ruhi, the Goof with Dwarfism and an Ample Heart

Chorus of Little Dancing Lady Puppets

Celebi, the Modernist Puppet

Dobra and Saf, the Siamese Twin Puppets who Love-Hate Turkey

Esma, the Hippie Puppet

Hacivad, the Inimitable Learned Sufi Elder Puppet

Hacıyatmaz the Roly-Poly Puppet who Always Bounces Back

Karagoz, the Oppositional Trickster Puppet

Kenne, Queen Puppet of Manners and the Maintenance of Honor and Ladylike Behavior

Khadijah, the Handmaiden Puppet Stolen from North Africa by Ottoman Slavers

Mercan Bey, the Spice Trader Puppet from the Arabian Peninsula

Perihan, the Fairy Godmother Goddess Puppet

Safiye Rakkase, the Vainglorious Dancing Girl Puppet

Tiryaki, the Narcoleptic Opium Addict Puppet

Write-a-matrix, the Academic, Whip-Cracking Dominatrix Puppet

Yehuda Rebbe, the Globalized Rabbi Wise Man Puppet

Zenne, the Nervous Nellie Like a Bowl of Rosehip Jelly Puppet

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Karagöz Oyunları- what now?

Posted on September 7, 2012 by lizcameron

Karagöz (literal translation: “black eye”) is a word that refers both to an individual puppet character from the Ottoman Empire era AND to the entire troupe of Karagöz shadow puppets that surround him. I have described this band of puppets in brief, here. And I have also introduced them as they introduced themselves to me, in their hometown of Bursa…you can revisit that episode by clicking here.

Craig Jacobrown puppet troupe prepares to pres...

Craig Jacobrown puppet troupe prepares to present a child-friendly Karagöz and Hacivat shadow play at Turkfest, Center House, Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In my blogworld, a band of Karagöz puppets have inhabited me to guide my cross-cultural road trip through my Turkish-American marriage – sort of like inner voices, but not the schizophrenic type :).

Technically, Karagöz shadow puppets, known as tashvirs, are constructed from the hides of oxen or camels and are held on dowels in front of a lighted sheet in order to create shadows. Each play usually begins with a dancing lady – or some other character who ‘sets the stage’ for the story to unfold involving shrieking stereotypes, singing within tambourine shakes, poetry, myth-repetition, tongue-twisting and general merriment.

Emanating from the city of Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire circa 1326, Karagöz puppets have delighted children and adults alike for centuries. Said to be a tribute to Karagöz and Hacivad, two spirited men that loved to co-recite stories to their co-workers while taking breaks from the construction of Bursa’s stunning Ulu Cami (Ulu Mosque), the puppets are the living memory of those men who were executed for slowing the process of the mosque’s construction. Eee gads!

Now that I have tenure (as you may recall from when the puppets attended my hearing), maybe I don’t have to worry about execution!

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Safiye Rakkase gets into old Turkish cinema

Posted on September 3, 2012 by lizcameron


Myriad Turkish friends suggest that one of the best ways to learn the language better is to inundate myself with Turkish soap operas (see the Senior Dogs Abroad post on that here) – or old YouTube Turkish films.

Well, since I have been down here in Provincetown, mostly staring at the ceiling and the sea during my grieving process, Safiye Rakkase has taken to pointing my browser to old Turkish (and Arabic) films that feature all manner of costumes and belly dancing. She is, you see, a puppet who is obsessed with fashion and all-things dancing. She thinks that by just secondarily listening to Turkish, I will get more in this tough cranium of mine. Ever since she got into the spirit of preparing for the Provincetown Sultan of Nutcracker’s ball, it’s been non-stop on the YouTube front for her.

Today, she is playing this old clip on a loop – it’s Nergis Mogol. So far, she is pretty frustrated that I haven’t even mastered another word in Turkish – nor have I loosened up enough for belly dancing. She reminds me of our trip to Urfa, where an entire band of veiled ladies from Tokat couldn’t even coax my gazelle-stomp dancing style out of me…Oh well, good thing I, like the British expat crazytraintotinkytown, partnered with perhaps one of the ONLY Turkish men out there who cannot dance!

Whether it helps you build your Turkish or not, enjoy!

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