12.1

 It is important, at this point, to dwell upon the scripts and their roles in the formation ofa political repertoire in the following chapter. In the following lines, I will fırst try to observe how 'the theater epidemic' boomed after 23 July, then scrutinize the theatre frenzy with the spectacles of Besa and Vatan under the patronage ofthe CUP.

During the celebrations ofthe Second Constitution, the stage became a new space where people expressed their excitement and celebrated 'freedom". Most of the spectacles served to legitinıize and to glorify the rule ofthe CUP. Interestingly, the structure of these performances differed from the previous and subsequent

³¹⁸ "Two days after tlıe proclanıation of tlıe Second Constitııtion, I rented tlıe Tepebaşı Amphitlıeatre. My purpose was to play the copyrighted plays which were prohibited after tlıe Gedikpaşa Incident during the Hanıidian era. No one had yet dared to do tlıat." Hafi Kadri Alpman, Ahmet Fehim Bey'in Anıları (İstanbul: Tercüman, 1977), p. 192.

 

³¹⁹ Some oftlıese names were: Abdülhalim Memduh, Dr. Refik Nevzat, Tunalı Hihni, İhsan Adli, Kazun Nama, Abdullah Cevdet, Beha Tevfık.

decades. Unlike the previous ones performed in the Gedikpaşa and Naum Theaters, these performances were staged in public squares and in public buildings; and were either accompanied by a public demonstration of the CUP, or with speeches of the politicians. These compounded performances were usually organized as fund-raising organizations to heal public wounds.

Ahmet Fehim's memoirs give us the best published narrative describing the atmosphere ofthe day and the theater frenzy. The famous actor and stage director described the atmosphere ofthe dayasan 'extravagance' and 'anarchy'. According to him, the Revolution created anarchy in the theater. Ahmet Fehim thinks that this

movement had only one leader, Namık Kemal, anda single positive aspect, people's part.ıc.ıpatı.on .ın the ht eater.³²⁰

in a parallel !ine, Muhsin Ertuğrul (1892-1979), known as the founding father ofthe modem Turkish theater, describes the same phenomenon as an 'ecstasy both creating and created by the boom of theater'. Ertuğrul, in his memoirs, also touches

 

 

³²⁰ "In these joyful days, the nuınber ofthe ones who participated in the theater was incalculable. To continue my work as before, I tried to maintain the performances in Kadıköy and Tepebaşı Theaters. Yet, İstanbul then became a city ofmadmen who refused to heal. Hirsute people, putting four gas chests and sheets together to form a stage, were playing a ridiculous play ending with the words "Long Live Country!" "Long Live Freedom!" When the Second Constitution was proclaimed, the art ofthe theatre went out of control and tuıned into a craze. We, the performers, had to become quiet and scattered around. I went to Salonika. It was even worse. Rambling groups were coming together and shonting: 'Liberty!' at every comer. The educated people of Salonika levied tributes on the stages.

After performing five or six plays in Eden, we left our place for the Bulgarian parties who were coming by necessity. Yet we could not work. People then got sick oftheater, and disgusted by it. By abusing the play Vatan Yahut Silis/re,!here was no one left who was not defrauded or robbed. The amount ofthe gold gathered was innuınerable. However, ali this money was spent neither for country nor for the army, neither for the navy nor for anything useful, but rather remained in these theatre marauders. (... ) We had to retuın to İstanbul. The chaos was stili continuing in İstanbul. Anyone could act on the stage and some newly emerging playwrights were writing down some bullshit such as Sabah-, Hürriyet (The moming ofFreedom), Jön Türkler (Young Turks), Hamid'in Son Günleri (The Last Days of Abdülhamid), Saray Entrikaları (Intrugues ofthe Palace) and staged them in a nuınber of diversely named theaters. Some ofthem staged al! the Ottoman sultans. Doubtlessly, this was a revolution. And it was the anarchic reflection ofthe revolution on the stage. There was only one good aspect ofthis anarchy and one creator ofthis aspect. The good side was that Turkish yonth fearlessly appeared on the stage, and the creator ofthis movement was Namık Kemal's Vatan Yahut Silis/re." Fehim, Sahnede Elli Sene, pp. 134-135

upon the Revolution, and its celebrations on the stage.³²¹ In his memoirs, he argues

 

!hat the Revolution and the performances ofthe censored plays of Namık Kemal and Şemseddin Sami created a great enthusiasm in a theatrical milieu which was believed to be 'dead'.³²² Asa reaction to the oppression and censorship, Muhsin Ertuğrul states !hat the censored plays became symbols of the Revolution and created mass spectacles.³²³

The articles appearing in the newspapers of the day clearly illustrate how the Revolutionary theater became a new genre of celebration embracing ali kinds of bodily expression ofjoy and dance.³²⁴ Press hada leading role in disseminating the Revolution, and in calling the crowds to participate in this new theater experience. Indeed, the post-revolutionary press resembled the post-revolutionary theater. They both aimed to educate the masses and to form public opinion to condemn the old

³²¹ "in July 1908, when Sultan Abdülhamid II proclaimed the Second Constitntion, the transformation from the monarchy to parliamentary constitntional govermnent caused so muchjoy and enthusiasm

!hat ali the educated youth of İstanbul ran in the streets. With !he excitement ofbeing liberated, !hey began to express this joy on stage. For !his purpose, !hey generally preferred to stage Namık Kemal's plays; and offered the masses to watch the performances of Vatan Yahut Silis/re (Fatherland) and Zavallı Çocuk (the Poor Child) which were hitherto prohibited.

Ertnğrul, Benden Sonra Tufan Olmasın, p. 83.

 

³²² "ünce the period offear, espionage, and oppression, referred to as 'tyranny' came to an end, theatre which seemed 'dead' was revived. This transformation can be best observed in İstanbul's various summer theaters. The prohibited plays of Namık Kemal and of Şemseddin Sami were staged by the passionate youug actors, and theatre groups performed in various places between Beyazıt and Kadıköy. The idea of establishing a national Turkish theatre thus came up on the agenda again. But none ofthe existing amateur societies could realize that."

ibid, p. 26.

 

³²³ "Indeed, with the Revolution, one can see a revival in scriptwriting. After the long years of Sultan Abdülhamid II's oppression, the proclamation ofthe Second Constitntion made a public catharsis in the expression ofthoughts. Namık Kemal became a leading name to stimulate the nationalist sentiments and to provide unity. The plays of Namık Kemal which had been prohibited fora long time were now frequently staged on theatres. Again, one ofthe prohibited plays ofthe old regime: Şemsettin Sami's Besa became veıy popular."

ibid., p. 30.

 

³²⁴ "We did not yet appreciate !he benefits of the theatres. Because some ludicrous people, in the name oftheatre made such disgrace !hat our folks then thought the theatre was nothing but belly­ dancing; and !his time we, the young people of İzmir, gol together and organized a perrnanent theatre in our city. Our theatrical purpose was very serious; we wanted to stage exemplary plays which would be in service to moral matnration ofthe youth."

Çapkın, 8 October 1909.

regime. While the newspapers could only influence the literate population, theater could also influence the illiterate masses.

Just after the Revolution, the newspapers informed the audience that 'the freedom and the protection brought by the Revolution were reflected on the stage as well.'³²⁵ The newspaper Sabah announced that 'the plays that were hitherto censored and missed would now be performed.'³²⁶ Actually, the newspapers were full ofthe theater news. Most of the time, they advertised the plays and called for participation. For instance, one of these articles which appeared in Ahenk did not only encourage people to attend the show, but also taught a history ofthe theater 'which was an educational and progressive institution in the civilized societies.'³²⁷ Addressing the people of Manisa, the article calls for participation in the performances of the visiting troupe Milli Osmanlı Tiyatrosu (Ottoman National Theater).

Theater was already placed at the center of the ideological discourse of Westemization by the Ottoman intellectuals. it developed within the enlightemnent discourse of 'progress and civilization', gained new 'missions' after the declaration ofthe Second Constitution. After the Revolution of 1908, it served other purposes as well. First of them was a mutual one. While the theater helped to legitimize the new regime on the stage, the CUP's patronage legitimized the 'theater' which was hitherto banned, and considered to be 'dangerous'. Second, it served to create public opinion. As Muhsin Ertuğrul narrated in his memoirs, the theater served to 'awaken

 

 

³²⁵ Sabah, 29 July 1908.

 

³²⁶ "With the declaration ofthe Second Constitution, from the infınite benefıts tbat the press attained, the theatre also benefıted. From then on, the masterpieces such as Celaller, Atıf Beyler, Duhter-i Hindu, Gave will be staged instead oftbe vulgar plays. (...) We always missed them."

Sabah, 29 July 1908.

 

³²⁷ Ahenk, 18 November 1909.

the ordinary people' with the intermediary of those who had access to the stage.³²⁸ Third, both the newspapers and the Ottoman intellectuals regarded the theatre as a means for social and cultural development. Accordingly, theater was a tool to educate and to nationalize the masses. For instance, one article published in the newspaper Hizmet compared theater's educational role with that of schools' and placed it in the popular discourse of 'progress and civilization.'³²⁹ Similarly, another article written by an Ottoman intellectual, Hüseyin Fehmi perceived theater not only as a fundamental institution in the social development, but also as a cultural tool to 'improve one's behavior and culture.'³³⁰ On the other hand, it was also noteworthy that ali these debates and the theater frenzy developed around few plays, which were indeed the cultural products of the previous era.³³¹

 

 

 

 

 

³²⁸ "Most people who realized the importance ofthe social transformations grew a desire for the theatre in the post-1908 era of''rushing to the stage" in order to 'warn the ordinary people'. In various public squares of İstanbul, sumer theaters were built, a number oftheatre troupes were founded by amateurs, and scripts that would voice the public joy would be staged."

Ertuğrul, Benden Sonra Tufan Olmasın, pp. 83-84.

 

³²⁹ "The influence ofthe theatre upon morality is as much as that ofthe schools. In civilized societies, the governments constructed public theatre buildings and conıpanies. The greatest scholars, even those of ethics, work in such nıagnificent buildings and in this way they acquire fame and reputation and therefore do service to humanity."

Hizmet, 29 January 1909.

 

³³⁰ "Although the theatre is one ofthe most laureate and blooming pillar ofthe fine arts (sanayi-i bedia), unfortunately when its name is recalled the miseries ofthe Hamidian era are renıembered. The desperate people who did not yet see and experience a real theater which is a high art form, cannot understand its importance. When the Second Constitution was proclaimed, the fırst excitement was expressed in the press and the second one in theater. The newspapers, being usually the slave of censorship, today showed the spread offreedom ofspeech. üne could observe the same level ofzeal in our current theatres in order to taste the pleasure of nıanner and kindness. For those who considered the swift revolution occurring on our stages as an opening ofmaturation for the future of our manners wouldneverbe mistaken. (... )"

Hüseyin Fehmi, "Sanayi-i Nefise-İnkılab-ı Temaşa," Hizmet, 4 February 1909.

 

³³¹ These plays were Şemseddin Sami's Resa (Pledge or Fidelity to the Oath), Namık Kemal's Vatan (Fatherland), Gülnihal, Zavallı Çocuk (Poor Child), and Akif Bey. For further detail, see: Sevengil, Meşrutiyet Tiyatrosu, p. 12.

The reflection of the Revolution on stage was fırst seen in the performances of Besa.³³² In a very short time, theater created its own audience. The performances of Besa were followed by the performances of Vatan, which created a new market for the production of the scripts and the politicization of the repertoire. These two

plays played a significant role in the the development of theaters into mass spectacles under the patronage ofthe Committee ofUnion and Progress.

A few days after the declaration ofthe Second Constitution, the two major theater companies, Ahmet Fehim and Mmakyan Efendi Companies announced that they would perform Besa.³³³ Even though Ahmet Fehim argues that he was the first one who 'dared' to announce it,³³⁴ the newspapers show that both companies staged the play around the same time. The newspapers announced the performance of Besa with great enthusiasm.³³⁵ According to the newspaper Millet, the performance of

 

 

³³² "The Plot of Besa yahud Ahde Vefa: A daughter ofa shepherd falls in love with her cousiu and they gel engaged. However, one ofthe men ofTepedelen Bey, Selfo also loves the daughter. The Bey forces the shepherd to give his daughter to Selfo. The shepherd resists. Selfo kidnaps the daughter on the order of the Bey and during the kidnapping he kills the shepherd. Before he dies, the shepherd makes his wife promise to get revenge. She searches for their enemies and she witnesses an event. üne guy was sleeping under a tree and another guy took his guns. The first guy wakes the sleeping guy and wants him to beg for mercy. Yet, he refuses to do so. When he was about to shoot hiın, Vahide, the wife ofthe shepherd, shoots the man and saves him. He was Fettah Ağa, who had been away for twenty years and now he was going to see his son and his wife. Vahide telis him her story and Fettah Ağa takes an oath to kili the murderer of her husband. But the murderer was his own son Selfo, but Fettah Ağa kills him due to his oath (besa)."

Seçkin, "Staging the Revolutioıı, "pp. 136-137

 

³³³ Sevengil, Meşrutiyet Tiyatrosu, pp. 11-13.

 

³³⁴ "Two days after the proclarnation oftbe Second Constitution, I rented the Tepebaşı Amphitheatre. My purpose was to perform the copyrighted plays which were prohibited after the Gedikpaşa Incident during the Hamidian era. No one had yet dared to do !hat. Everyone was still afraid. I gol rid of ali concems and fears. I proclaimed that we would perform Besa."

Alpman, Ahmet Fehim Bey'in Anıları, p. 192.

³³⁵ "We missed them. We could not read, see them with pleasure. Now the zealous achievement to be expected from the company of Minakyan Efendi, for the passion of liberty, is to successively perform patriotic, freely expressed written scripts. Yesterday, he carne to our printing house infonuing us that he would stage Balmumcu !his week and Besa next week. We could not have yet figured it out: Besa was the most eligible piece to stage now."

Sabah, 29 July 1908.

Besa meant the beginning ofa new 'age of progress'.³³⁶ it also announced that the play was 'approved' by the CUP.³³⁷ After a series ofrehearsals, Ahmet Fehim restaged Besa on 7 August 1908 at the Tepebaşı Theater. He describes that the theater was as full as 'the day ofreckoning' that night.³³⁸ Ahmet Fehim had prepared new mise-en scenes: He demanded Sinanyarı to compose a song, invited eighty students of the Armenian Music School as the chorus, and exhibited the darıce of the Albaniarı Lap region. Moreover, he brought a flock of sheep that would pass by the stage.³³⁹ Actually, Ahmet Fehim did not only use his creativity but also incorporated politically symbolic elements into the performarıce. For instance, he played songs from Guillaume Teli, a well recognized melody used in the Friday Processions and in the imperial reception ceremonies as observed in the previous chapters. The structural organization of this first spectacle deeply influenced others, arıd set a 'format' for the major theater performances held after the Revolution under the patronage of the CUP. In the subsequent performances, the speeches of the Ottomarı intellectuals and politicians with themes around the love of fatherlarıd arıd the role of the theater in modernization became apart of the performarıces.

³³⁶ Millet, 6 August 1908.

 

³³⁷ ibid.

 

³³⁸ Alpman, Ahmet Fehim Bey'in Anıları, p.192

 

³³⁹ "1 had prepared a new mise en scene for Besa. I asked Sinanyan to compose great music, asked far the participation of eighty students from the Armenian Musical School, and organized a parade of sheep during the perfonnance. I had choreographed a dance from the region of Lap in Albania. I asked Virjin to play the role of 'Meruşa' and asked Raşit Rıza to act as the little shepherd appears for the fırst time on stage. During the intennission, a farnous ltalian tenor sang a song of Guillaume Teli. A general made a speech on patriotism. izzet Melih Bey talked about the theatre. Then, we performed Besa for three days and nights and made a great sum of money. On the third night, I realized that İbnilrrefik Ahmet Nuri Bey got dressed and played the role of"Fettah" without informing me. I did not get surprised at ali because the nights were full of applause and excitement and the stage was swarming with various people and brand new actors."

ibid., p. 192.

In the following days, the newspapers praised the fırst show of Besa, and glorified this first 'national performance'. The newspaper Sabah announced the performance of Besa as one ofthe main political and cultural events ofthe day.³⁴⁰ This article described how 'unbelievable' was the performance of Besa. Sabah was not the only newspaper glorifying the play. Similarly, the newspapers Servet-i Funun³⁴¹, Tanin³⁴², Millef⁴³, İttifak:⁴⁴ helped to 'nationalize' the theatre by their support. Interestingly, ali these articles portrayed that the audience was not very much interested in the literary aspects of the scripts, but they were rather interested in

³⁴⁰ "Now, thank God, we started the work from the beginning. Govemment is reconstructed. Its magnifıcence and grandeur, its strength and might will be later on seen, the defıciencies wi!I be perfected and completed one by one. There in !his context yesterday, Şemsettin Sami Bey's Besa play was performed for the fırst time.(... ) Oh God! Was ita dream? Was the play Besa performed, or wasn't it? That's not possible! No, it was not possible and feasible. ( ... )Besa could not be performed! How could it be performed? Yes, yes it was performed and it was perfectly performed! Yet the freedom played a role here. (... ) 33 years later, we saw a national theatre for the fırst time, thank God!· Victory, victory... But being affected by its excitement and influence how can I portray and express my sentiments? How could it be possible? What am I supposed ta write, ta say? Alas, 33 years, minutes of which are supposed to be as precious as a century... What a pity !hat the martyrs of freedom who became deprived ofthe honor of seeing such a play. What a pity for those who were forced and condemned ta see the plays which changed form in terms of mischief of ethics, dirtying sentiınents and principal subject in those nasty places... " Sabah, 8 August 1908, quoted in: Bilge Seçkin, "Staging the Revolution," pp. 50-54.

 

³⁴¹ "With thousands ofpatriots who suffered from the tyranny ofthe old regiıne, theatre was fully crowded. For 33 years, we had been sa thirsty far justice, liberty that with singing the liberty song (lağmat-ı hürriyet), the air !hat we breathed was enough to calm the fervor of liberty. We wholeheartedly and with our all might were shouting "Long !ive Liberty!"

Servet-i Funun, 8 August 1908, quoted in: ibid., p. 57.

 

³⁴² "Furthermore, when Fehim Efendi playing the role Zehir reacted ta the tyrannical threat of Demir Bey and said "Those times are over, we now have a constitution. We are all equal!" the spectators shouted: "Long !ive Liberty! Long !ive Equality! Long !ive Justice! Long !ive Fratemity!" The feeling ofliberty in everybody's heart was apparent, and could be seen in their eyes."

Tanin, 8 August 1908.

 

³⁴³ Millet, 8 August 1908.

 

³⁴⁴ "! do not want ta tell the main part ofthe play: Every Otroman loving his country, and knowing the influenced wisdom of his country certainly knows Sami Bey's play serip!. Did Sami Bey become successful at !his? Was the theatre eligible for the current laws of art? Talking about !his is common, yet it is enough ta investigate the patriotic excitement !hat it brought about in the hope ofheart." İttifak, 21 August 1908, quoted in: Seçkin, "Staging the Revolution," pp. 64-65.

the very performance of the play! Ali these articles mentioned that the audience was shouting 'Long !ive freedom' during the performance. Again, most ofthe slogans that were used to support the actors on the stage were not related to the theme or performance of Besa, but to the Revolution and its 'adopted' morto: 'Liberty, equality and fratemity!" Besa had created an active audience who demanded the repetition ofthe performance for three subsequent nights.³⁴⁵ The newspapers giving information on the later performances also showed that the performances incorporated a national element: The national anthem.³⁴⁶ As far as I could observe, Kanuni Esasi Marşı (the march of constitution), Hürriyet Marşı (the march of liberty)3⁴⁷, and Marseillaise were the most commonly played marches during the plays.

From their fırst performances on, both Besa and Vatan showed the

 

manipulation and the exaggeration of what Stephen Greenblatt calls 'the social energy.' Greenblatt argues that 'each individual may be said to make a small contribution to the general store of social energy possessed by the theater and hence to the sustained claim that the theatre can make on its real and potential audience'.³⁴⁸ Considering that the audience was shouting 'Long !ive!' and applauding during the whole performance without considering the breaks, one can speak ofa social energy that produces a collective imagination and participation.

 

 

³⁴⁵ Alpman, Ahmet Fehim Bey'inAnıları, p. 192.

 

³⁴⁶ "The manner of consecration that the people expressed when the March ofthe Constitution was playing awakened a sense of crying in hearts. In the future, we will certainly see plays which will be in !he service of ascension and progression of oıır country and thus be cherished."

İttifak, 21 August 1908, quoted in: Seçkin, "Staging the Revolution," pp. 64-65.

 

³⁴⁷ Tanin, 25 August 1908.

 

³⁴⁸ Greenblatt, The Shakespearean Negotiations, p. 14.

 

While the performances of Besa created a public space for the politicization of the audience, the performances of Vatan were used to Iegitimize the new regime. Under the patronage ofthe CUP, Vatan was mostly staged in public squares for the public weal. These philanthropic performances did not only serve to raise money, but they also served to disseminate Ottoman nationalism to a larger audience. The performances of Vatan, under the patronage ofthe CUP, were accompanied by political demonstrations, and Unionists' speeches. Efdal Sevinçli argues that these performances were used to 'decorate' the conferences ofthe CUP, which sought the popular support of the masses.³⁴⁹ Indeed, the newspapers display a similar pattem to that described by Sevinçli. Tbe popular performances of Vatan were accompanied by the long tirades of political figures like Prince Sabahattin.³⁵⁰ As 'patrons of the arts', the CUP leaders used these popular performances to raise money for the public expenditures. Again, the newspapers reveal that this pattem of patronage continued at Ieast until the beginning ofthe First World War.³⁵¹

The performances of Vatan, having a symbolic meaning in the collective memories were particularly significant since they resembled public demonstrations where the dynasty members, the CUP leaders and the public came together. Vatan also acted, in Marvin Carlson's terms, asa 'memory machine' for the Ottoman public since it referred to the oppression and censorship.³⁵² These performances and their patronage pattems were noteworthy to conceptualize the role of the theater in the formation of public opinion and mass politics. The newspapers announced that

³⁴⁹ Sevı•nç1·ı, 1"neşrutı•yetten Cumhurı•yet 'e, p. 13.

 

³⁵⁰ İkinci Meşrutiyetin İlk Yılı, (İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2008), p.113.

 

³⁵¹ Ahenk, 10 April 1913; Anadolu, 20 August 1913.

 

³⁵² Carlson, The Haunted Stage, p. 2.

the fırst performance of Vatan would be held in the Tepebaşı Summer Theater.³⁵³ For the fırst performance, an audition was organized to select the leading actor: İslam Bey.³⁵⁴ In his memoirs, Ahmet Fehim underlines that when he initiated the audition, he received an incredible demand from ali segments ofthe society.³⁵⁵ Actually, this narrative was very interesting since it shows the popular interest in the theater.

Ahmet Fehim informs us that the applicants were not only young actors, but also 'theatre-lovers'. He informs us that 'soldiers, offıcers, the elderly, engineers, doctors, pupils, grocers, young people, writers, poets, and people from various classes competed for the role of İslam Bey.'³⁵⁶ People's participation in the actual performance was also remarkable. The account of actor Raşit Rıza is revealing: "I said one word and immediately an offıcer from audiences pulled out his sword and

started to give a speech/tirade. We were performing together with the audience."³⁵⁷ Similarly, the articles on the performance emphasized the enthusiasm ofthe audience 'who frequently interrupted the play with their applause'.³⁵⁸ These narratives demonstrate that the performances of Vatan blurred the lines between the audience

 

³⁵³ Tanin, 10 August 1908.

 

³⁵⁴ Sevengil, Türk Tiyatrosu, p. 75.

 

³⁵⁵ "In newspapers, I declared !hat I will perfonn Namık Kemal's Vatan Yahut Silistre and I started a competition for the role of İslam Bey. The theatre was turning into a place ofmass meeting with numerous applicants. (... ) In these days of amazement, I anı stili astonished !hat my father yet did not rise from his grave and come up on the stage. Nurettin Şefkati and Raşit Rıza won the competition." Fehim, Sahnede Elli Sene, p. 133.

 

³⁵⁶ ibid.

 

³⁵⁷ Sevengil, Meşrutiyet Tiyatrosu, p. 14.

 

³⁵⁸ "No one cared about the proper performance ofthe play. Every word of İslam Bey was interrupted by applause. Everyone forgot about the play and the performers. They applauded for the future ofthe Ottoman state. As the performance continued, the national feelings became stronger. Furthermore, in the tlıird scene, where the beloved soldiers defended the nation against the attack ofthe enemy, the heart ofa huge nation was fluttering."

Tanin, 22 August 1908.

and the stage. At this point, we can also speak of the performance of the audience who actively participated in the performance.

The fırst performance of Vatan was organized under the patronage ofthe CUP. The CUP invited a chorus of seventy people to sing the Vatan March composed by Sinanyan Efendi, and one hundred fıfty people to act 'a group of soldiers' .³⁵⁹ The money raised from this performance would be used to purchase two cruisers (named after two 'heroes ofliberty' Enver and Niyazi) for the navy.³⁶⁰ The very 'national' aim ofthis organization brought the audience together as 'citizens', and 'Ottomanized' them throughout the performance. The audience included a number ofpoliticians, Paşas, and the Grand Vizier.³⁶¹ Indeed, the participation ofthe ruling elite in these performances was very important in order to represent the rapprochement of the politicians with the masses and to emphasize the importance given to public opinion.

In a week, the performance of Vatan moved from the theater buildings to the public squares. Vatan became a mass spectacle with the participation of 10,000 people anda number ofpolitical fıgures in the Tophane Square.³⁶² Actually, this was the fırst performance of Vatan İn a public square. This 'festival' was organized under the patronage of the CUP to help the victims of the Çırçır fire.³⁶³ The performance of

³⁵⁹ Sevengil, Meşrutiyet Tiyatrosu, p. 14.

 

³⁶⁰ "üne week after tlıe declaration oftlıe Second Constitution, Reşad Rıdvan Bey and I decided, under tlıe auspices of (Tanin) newspaper, to perforrn the play Vatan for t!ıe benefit of cruisers (Enver and Niyazi).

"lbnirrefik Ahmed Nuri Sekizinci'nin Hayatı ve Eserleri," p. 10.

 

³⁶¹ Tanin, 22 August 1908.

 

³⁶² "Tlıe play was performed with extraordinary applause of approximately ten thousand people."

İkdam, 29 August 1908.

 

³⁶³ "A concert given for the victims ofthe Çırçır fire and national donation was held at tlıe Tophane Talimhane Square and the deceased eminent writer Kemal Bey's play Vatan was perforıned by the officers (zabitan-, askeriye). Quite a big scene was constructed in front ofthe factories and tlıe

 

Vatan started with the speeches of the politicians and princes, and was followed by the Hamidian March.³⁶⁴ Around 1908, both the audience' s participation in the Hamidian March and the speeches ofthe princes showed that the 'revolutionary theater' was not yet anti-Hamidian. Theater plays started to satirize andjudge the old regime and Sultan Abdülhamid II only after the dethronement of the sultan in 1909. On the contrary, the participation ofthe dynasty and the ruling class in the performance, namely Prince Abdürrahim Efendi, Ali Rıza Paşa, Necip Paşa, Ali Refik Paşa, and Kaymakam Galip Bey encouraged the theater and strengthened the role of the theater in the making of public opinion.³⁶⁵

The glorious third performance of Vatan was organized under the patronage of the Ministry of War to help the victims of the Çırçır fire.³⁶⁶ This performance

mosque at the Talimhane Square and the side facing the Talimhane Square was closed with wooden pieces. Every side ofthe square was !it by lııxıırious lamps and the railings were !it by lantems and the square was adorned with flags from. Şehzade Abdürrahim Efendi dressed in his artillery official uniform honored the aforementioned place and was greeted by the Minister of Arsenal Rıza Plli)a and other senior officers. He was laken to the mansion facing the Talimhane Square. The play was performed with extraordinary applause of approximately ten thousand people. As the band played the March ofLiberty at intermissions, a perfect parade march was conducted by tbe soldiers at the final scene and infantry (zuhaj), infantry with turban (sarıklı zuhaj) and infantry of artillery participated in this parade march."

İkdam, 29 August, 1908.

 

³⁶⁴ Tercüman-ı Hakikat, 29 August 1908.

 

365 ibid.

 

³⁶⁶ "A philanthropic concert was held in the Ministry ofWar for the victims ofthe Çırçır fıre. For the concert in the Square ofMinistry ofWar, a 24-metre-wide and 12-meter-long, perfect scene was constructed in the front facing the Beyazıt door. For those who were to participate in the concert, a wide area was reserved in the square. As lııxurious lamps were placed in some parts ofthe square,

!here were also Ottoman flags everywhere. After one o'clock, tlıefasıl started to be played by the officers ofthe Ministry ofWar, and tlıe national songs were sung and applauded extraordinarily by tlıe public. The singers' performances lasted nntil two o'clock. Then, the imperial band and the band of the Arsenal sang national songs. Then tlıe play Vatan was performed and was applanded extraordinarily. A perfect parade march was conducted by participating regular troops, sarıklı artillerymen, and tlıe band of infantry with fes who were dressed up in their nniforms. Along with these, a speech was made by Namık Kemal Beyzade Ekrem Bey for those participating and also a piece of verse was read addressing Ottoman soldiers. Then a poem called "Red Feses" by Ekrem Bey addressing the informers was read loudly by an arnateıır and was applauded with the echoes of 'Long

!ive Liberty, Long !ive Justice, Long !ive the Army.' Following this, the national comedy named Mürebbiye was performed and the plays lasted on nntil the !ate hoıırs ofthe night. The Princes including Salim Efendi, Ahmed Efendi, Abdülkadir Efendi and Cemaleddin Efendi, the son of deceased Prince Şevket Efendi also participated in the concert.(... )"

witnessed one of the most crowded perfomıances of all tiınes. The dailies mention that the printed tickets alone numbered 16,000.³⁶⁷ The government provided public transportation for the masses³⁶⁸, and military uniforms for the actors. Actually, this was a combination ofa number of performances. The event started with the performance oftwo different choral groups,³⁶⁹ followed by the performance ofa national comedy, Mürebbiye (Teacher) by Hüseyin Rahmi.³⁷⁰ Subsequently, the brother of Niyazi Bey (one ofthe 'heroes offreedom") gave a speech.³⁷¹ Then, Vatan started with applauses.³⁷² As reported by the newspapers, 'thousands of people shouted "Long Live Freedom, Justice and Army!".³⁷³ The show ended with a 'poem recitation' by the son of Namık Kemal: Ali Ekrem.³⁷⁴ Just like in the previous performances, the dynasty members, the CUP leaders, and the masses became one single body throughout the performance. As far as I could observe from the newspapers, the ambassadors oflran, France and Spain, the members of the Ottoman dynasty (Prince Selim, Prince Selahaddin, Prince Ahmed, Prince Abdülkadir, Prince

İkdam, 12 September 1908.

 

³⁶⁷ İkdam, 11 September 1908.

 

³⁶⁸ "A perfect concert will be held in the square ofthe War ofMinistry this evening to help the victims ofthe Çırçır Fire. Afterwards, Kemal Bey's Vatan and Hüseyin Rahmi Beyefendi's Mürebbiye will be staged. For those who will participate in the concert, one carriage from the Anatolian and Rumelian Railway Coıııpanies anda ferry from the Şirket-i Hayriye and the Haliç Dersaadet Administration are reserved."

Tercüman-, Hakikat, 11 September 1908.

 

³⁶⁹ Mabeyn-i Hümayun Mıızikası, and Tophane Sanayi Muzıkası. See: Sabah, 11 Septeıııber 1908.

 

³⁷⁰ ibid.

 

³⁷¹ İkdam, 13 September 1908.

 

372 ibid.

 

³⁷³ Tanin, 13 September 1908; İkdam, 12 September 1908.

 

374 ibid.

Burhaneddin, Prince Abdülrahim, Prince Kemaleddin, Damat Cemaleddin, Sabahaddin Paşa, Nureddin Paşa, Arif Hikmet Paşa), and the ruling elite (Hasan Fehmi Paşa (the Minister of Justice), Hakkı Beyefendi (Minister oflnterior Affairs), Ali Rıza Paşa (Minister ofWar), Müşir Ahmet Muhtar Paşa, Fuad Paşa, Mahmud Muhtar Paşa) were among the audience.³⁷⁵

Besides these three signifıcant performances, Vatan was frequently staged in

 

public schools, in public squares, in public gardens and in public complexes under the patronage ofthe CUP.³⁷⁶ While most ofthe mass spectacles, under the patronage ofthe CUP, took place in İstanbul, other major cities ofthe Empire, such as İzmir, Salonica, Samsun, Adana, Bursa,³⁷⁷ Beirut, Cairo and Alexandria³⁷⁸ experienced this theater 'frenzy' with Vatan as well.

The mass performances of Vatan did not only become 'symbols of

 

revolution' but also created a new market for the political theater, and contributed a great deal to the politicization ofthe repertoire. After the attempt of Counter­ Revolution in 13 April 1909, and the subsequent exile of Sultan Abdülhamid II, the repertoire of the popular theatre dramatically changed. While the format and the literary features ofthe scripts were highly influenced by Namık Kemal's scripts, the new genre of 'milli facia' (national tragedy) reflected the consolidation ofthe Unionists' regime.

³⁷⁵ Tanin, 13 September 1908; İkdam 12 September 1908.

 

³⁷⁶ "With the help ofthe government, we performed Vatan in the squares ofWar and Arsenal Ministries, in Kuleli aud Darüşşafaka Schools in İstanbul and furthermore in Selanik with the participation ofthe stndents ofthe War Academy and the baud ofthe Arsenal."

"Ibnirrefik Ahmed Nuri Sekizinci'nin Hayatı ve Eserleri," p. 10.

 

³⁷⁷ See: Efdal Sevinçli, İzmir'de Tiyatro (İzmir: Ege Yayıncılık, 1994).

 

³⁷⁸ See: Makdisi, "Levantine Trajectories the Formulation aud Dissemination ofRadical Ideas in and between Beirut, Cairo and Alexandria, 1860-1914".

CHAPTER VII

 

PUTTING THE OLD REGIME ON TRIAL: INVENTING THE "MİLLİ FACİA" GENRE

 

 

'The theatre epidemic' that followed the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 created a new market for the consumption ofthe political theater. The mass performances of Vatan and Besa in the public spaces strengthened the role ofthe theater in mass politics. Even though the staged performances of these plays written before 1908 were not anti-Hamidian, the market it created gave birth to a new genre: 'milli facia' (national tragedy) narrating a history ofthe Hamidian Era asa period of oppression and corruption. Ironically, although the 'politically sterilized' plays ofthe old regime created pageants in the days following the revolution, the 'politically loaded' post- 1908 scripts which put the theater back on the stage did not appeal to the Ottoman masses once the joy of the revolution faded.

 

 

Reflecting the Counter-Revolution on Stage: Politicization of the Repertoire

 

 

The proclamation ofthe Second Constitution was followed with a boom oftheater. The theater became a popular art form reflecting celebrations of the Young Turk Revolution with the mass spectacles of Vatan and Besa under the patronage ofthe CUP. In parallel to the post-revolutionary Ottoman press and the growing interest in the genre of cartoons, the theater also offered a satirical stance staging contemporary events ofthe era.

Just after the Revolution of 1908, a number of politicians, artisans, tradesmen and people of various ranks wrote scripts blaming the old regime. The scripts indeed

reflected public opinion and the popular reception of the revolution in the !ate 1910s. The Ottoman theater historians, namely Metin And, Refik Ahmet Sevengil, Alemdar Yalçın, Enver Töre, and Efdal Seviçli agree that these scripts lacked literary qualities and were primarily concerned with staging contemporary politics to the Ottoman public. Efdal Sevinçli particularly underlies that nane of these plays had literary qualities which could carry them to the following decades. He alsa emphasizes that these scripts were ali written by the ones who had enthusiasm rather than knowledge on the theater.³⁷⁹ The political scripts blaming the Hamidian era were found to be 'simple', 'aimless', 'weak', and 'fruitless' by the literary critics ofthe !ate 1900s as well. For instance, a renowned literary critic of the era, Celal Sahir argued that these scripts were not only 'poor', but alsa lacked 'effect scenifique' and 'these' in one of his articles published in Servet-i Fünun.³⁸⁰ Indeed, what these literary critics found 'fruitless' can be 'fruitful' sources for the historian, as they represent the popular historical discourse of the 19lOs.

Among ali the genres of popular theater in the !ast decades of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, like translations, melodramas, social and domestic dramas, historical dramas, romantic dramas, and adaptations, a new kind of political repertoire emerged, usually referred as 'milli facia' (national tragedy) or

³⁷⁹ Sevinçli, Meşrutiyetten Cumhuriyet'e, pp. 11-12.

 

³⁸⁰ "Obviously what is expected from the theatre is fırst a valuable script, and then the means of perfonnance. Considering the fırst, I can admit that our contemporary period is poorer than thirty years before. Even though it has been a long while since the Second Constitution, -which brought the freedom of speech, has been declared, none produced a fine work. Although it is not possible to produce works of art isolated from people's anger and enthusiasm, none ofthe plays condenming the old regime and the spies, with the speeches with 'long live the constitution' deserve to be titled as such. Iudeed, they are mostly like public sermons. Aod generally, they lack essence. They also lack 'effect scı!ntifique' and 'thı!se.' That is why, the emerging theatre companies tended to provide their repertoires from Kemal Bey's patriotic and speech-like scripts and Haınit's fertility ofmalignity." Celal Sahir, "Temaşa'ya Dair," Servetifünun, 11 June 1325, quoted in: Aod, Meşrutiyet Döneminde Türk Tiyatrosu, p.119.

'milli dram' (national drama). Even though they did not dominate the repertoire, they appealed to radical political groups and represented a historical narrative, which stili echoes today in the Turkish historiography. Theater historian Alemdar Yalçın informs us that 139 plays were staged between the years 1908-1910. 93 ofthem were copyrighted works; and 46 of them were translations and adaptations. Yalçın also mentions that 32 ofthe 93 copyrighted plays were anti-Hamidian, and themed around the tyranny ofthe previous era.³⁸¹ These plays, offering an anti-Hamidian discourse have long been neglected and not studied either by Ottoman historians or by theater historians. Indeed, they formed a large repertoire, well-kept at the National Library in Ankara and other public libraries as printed books and pamphlets. Their very presence in these libraries and their publication information cited on the first pages of these scripts demonstrate that the leading publication houses of the epoch, such as Osmanlı Matbaası, Karabet Matbaası, Tanin Matbaası, Servet-i Fünun Matbaası, and the leading periodicals ofthe age like Ahenk, Türk Yurdu Mecmuası, Aşiyan Mecmuası, Kalem Mecmuası, and İnci Mecmuası supported their publications.³⁸² Considering the accessibility of the scripts, one can argue that they circulated in the market and that they were popular as a genre consunıed by the Ottoman public. On the other hand, one cannot really know whether they were performed or not as the newspapers did not always announce them and as the flyers and the notices on theater activities were not systematically archived, but rather kept in private collections. Therefore, the following questions come to our minds: Were they written to be read or to be performed? Where were they performed? How did the audience react or participate? Although these questions remain unanswered, based on the

³⁸¹ Yalçın, II Meşrutiyette Tiyatro Edebiyatı Tarihi, p. 39.

 

³⁸² See: Appendix B.

research that scholars like Metin And and Alemdar Yalçın conducted in a number of libraries, it is possible to reach a list of some of the plays which were performed.³⁸³ Although the periodicals of the !ate 1910s do not inform the public on each and every performance staged, and that these lists can never be considered complete, they nevertheless give information on the popularity of this genre of plays.

The illusion ofthe Young Turk Revolution and the mass performances of Vatan encouraged people, especially the Unionists and the followers ofthe Committee of Union and Progress to write theater scripts to stage and to judge the Hamidian era. While the joy ofthe revolution and popular discourse portraying the CUP members as the 'heroes of freedom' inflamed the theater activities, the Counter-Revolution of April 1909 shadowed the popularity of theater. Historian Sina Akşin defınes the Revolt of April 1909 as 'an unsuccessful attempt of Counter-Revolution against the reign of the CUP by the Sublime Porte.' Akşin states that '31 March Incident' called for the restoration ofthe Shari'a, the dismissal ofthe cabinet and the seclusion ofthe Muslim women. The uprisings grew within an Islamic discourse since it aimed to use religion to appeal to the masses. Anti-Unionist elements came out in opposition to reform and called fora union based on Islam.³⁸⁴ As Feroz Ahmad reminds us, through their daily Volkan, the Islamists and the rebels appealed to the clerics in parliament, the lower ranks in the army and the urban lower classes. The troops of the İstanbul garrison and the students from the religious schools rebelled on the 13 April 1909. Upon the unrest, the officers (the followers ofthe CUP) organized a force known as the 'Action Army' led by General Malunud Şevket Paşa to restore

³⁸³ Far further infonnation, see: Metin And, Meşrutiyet Döneminde Türk Tiyatrosu. (Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınlan, 1971); Alemdar Yalçın, il Meşrutiyette Tiyatro Edebiyatı Tarihi (Ankara: Akçağ Basın Yayın, 2002).

 

³⁸⁴ Sina Akşin, Jön Türkler ve İttihat ve Terakki (Ankara; İstanbul: İmge Kitabevi, 2001), p. 185.

order in the capital and punish the rebels.³⁸⁵ While the organization ofthe Counter­ Revolution has been a subject of debate between the historians of the !ate Ottoman Empire, and were discussed in the works of Sina Akşin, Feroz Ahmad, and Şükrü Hanioğlu in great detail, I will summarize the subject by underlining that the uprising ended up with the restoration of the constitutional regime by the CUP, and consolidated the CUP's power within the government. Sultan Abdülhamid II was dethroned and forced to leave İstanbul to be settled in Salonika. Besides the discussions of the historians on the complex nature of the event, what was relevant for our subject was the reflection ofthe Counter- Revolution on stage. The religious uprising dimmed the revolutionary joy and empowered the CUP members who later became as 'tyrannical' as the dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II.

Theater activities were interrupted after 13 April, and the repertoire ofthe

 

revolutionary theater became more radical injudging the old regime. Immediately after 13 April, the '31 March Incident' was represented on stage. The Counter­ Revolution and the 'corrupted' personality ofthe dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II became popular themes ofthe post-1908 scripts andjoined the repertoire ofthe 'milli facia' genre.

üne can argue that the political repertoire evolved around two classes of symbolic figures. The first group consisted of the symbols of the new regime: The muses ofliberty (usually chained at the beginning ofthe play and freed by the end of the play), namely Midhat Paşa, and Namık Kemal. The second group consisted ofthe characters who symbolized the old regime, namely İzzet Paşa, Fehim Paşa and the dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II himself. The plays were often based on the opposition between these two groups, ending eventually with the glory ofthe first

³⁸⁵ Feroz Ahmad, Turkey: The Quest For Jdentity (Oxford: Oneworld, 2003), pp. 52-53.

group. They either caricaturized a group of people like 'the CUP members', 'Young Turks', 'the spies' and took them as solid entities, or singularized political figures like Midhat Paşa, Namık Kemal, Abdülhamid II, İzzet Paşa and Fehim Paşa. Both the structures and the contents ofthese plays judging the old regime on stage were indeed very similar. Even though categorization of these plays can underestimate their entangled narratives and similarities, one can examine them according to their dominant themes, a strategy followed by Metin And and Alemdar Yalçın. The plays evolved around fıve dominant themes: (1) The plays depicting Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa as the 'heroes of freedom', (2) the plays personalizing the corruption of the Hamidian era with two leaders ofthe spy network: Fehim and İzzet Paşas, (3) the scripts judging Sultan Abdülhamid II and his character, (4) the plays glorifying the Young Turks and the CUP, and (5) the scripts staging the Counter-Revolution of April 1909. In the following part, examples from these five categories will be mentioned with references to the works of Metin And, Alemdar Yalçın and Enver Töre.

The CUP members, who were initially acting as the patrons of arts were now symbolically presented as the heroic fighters ofthe nation on stage through these scripts. Moreover, some CUP members themselves wrote plays and played an important role in the formation of the political repertoire. Metin And who examined these playwrights gave a list of some of the CUP members who actively participated in the formation of the political repertoire.³⁸⁶ Among these writers were Abdülhalim Memduh and Refik Nevzat, co-authoring Abdülhamit ve Genç Bir Harem Ağası (Abdülhamid anda Young Eunuch); İhsan Adli and Malımut Şevket, co-authoring

³⁸⁶ And, Meşrutiyet Döneminde Türk Tiyatrosu, p. 114.

Hürriyet Kurbanları (the Victims ofFreedom); Kazım Nami Duru, the playwright of Nasıl Oldu? (How It Happened?); Tunalı Hilmi, the playwright ofthe plays of Memiş Çavuş; Abdullah Cevdet who translated many works of Shakespeare into Turkish; and Baha Tevfik, a renowned literary critic writing on the theater.³⁸⁷

Theater was now public, and politicians, elites, non-elites could contribute to the making of the repertoire and the formation ofa historical narrative that put the old regime on trial. The stage offered a space of interaction between the audience and the political actor through the political repertoire. This political genre did not only put the Hamidian era on trial, but also staged contemporary events like the Counter­ Revolution and the dethronement of Sultan Abdülhamid II, acting therefore as a medium of communication through which the public could participate in the circulation of information.

While the early examples ofthese plays publishedjust after the 23 July displayed thematic and structural similarities with Vatan, the !arter scripts adopted a more radical vocabulary that puts the Hamidian era on trial and reflected the consolidation ofthe Committee ofUnion and Progress. üne ofthe most popular scripts publishedjust after the revolution was Kazım Nami Duru's 'Nasıl Oldu?' (How It Happened?).³⁸⁸ Unlike others, 'Nasıl Oldu?' and its performance were criticized and prompted articles in a number of newspapers. Regarding the articles, one can conclude that the play was performed a number oftimes and was promoted in the periodicals of the epoch.³⁸⁹ When Refik Ahmet Sevengil asked the author to inform him on the play, Duru told him that he actually wrote the first two acts before

³⁸⁷ Since the biographies ofthese authors are not documented, it is very hard to fınd the years ofbirtlı and death.

³⁸⁸ Kazım Nami Duru, Nasıl Oldu? (N.p: n.p, 1326).

 

³⁸⁹ For Further inforınation, see: Sevinçli, İzmir 'de Tiyatro, pp. 25-29.

the 23 July and the !ast actjust after the 23 July.³⁹⁰ The play actually narrated hi(s)tory ofthe Young Turk Revolution. Duru, asa Unionist himself, staged the organization of the Young Turk movement and the structure of the Committee of Union and Progress. The play narrated the love ofa Turkish soldier (Behlül) and his Greek lover (Victoria). Victoria, just like in Vatan, cross-dressed asa man, took the male name Behzat for her love of nation, and for the love of Behlül. The moment her identity was recognized and the authorities decided to exile her, the Second Constitution was promulgated and the two lovers were freed. Besides this love story, the play gave not only a historical narrative on the organization of the CUP, but also emphasized the love between a Greek woman and a Turkish man. In the later days, the political plays started to judge the old regime and its symbolic fıgures on stage.

The plays did not only aim to propagate the rule of CUP but also revived the memory ofthe "istibdad" period, the dethroned Sultan and the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. By restaging the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II and the subsequent Young Turk Revolution, the CUP used theater to reshape collective memories through a collective remembering process. In the words of James V. Wertsch, such a process 'typically provides an essential hasis for the creation and maintenance of groups, specifıcally imagined communities!'³⁹¹ The collective remembering and the formation ofthe collective memory, in retum, played important roles in the construction of the historical discourses of the era. In the Ottoman case, the political repertoire influenced the consolidation ofthe Unionist ideologies in the popular

!eve!. Political theater could have also strengthened the historiographical narrative of

 

 

³⁹⁰ Sevengil, Meşrutiyet Tiyatrosu, p.10.

 

³⁹¹ James V. Wertsch, Voices ofCollective Remembering (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 67.

the Young Turk Revolution which condemned the old regime and glorified the reign ofthe Committee ofUnion and Progress.

 

 

Illustrating Temptation for the 'Milli Facia' Genre

 

 

 

Departing from Stephan Greenblatt's argurnent that the 'works of art, however intensely marked by the creative intelligence and private obsessions of individuals, were the products of collective negotiation and exchange', it would be wise to analyze the texts of some plays dating from the post-1908 era and discuss their historical narratives that put the old regime on tria!.³⁹²

The scripts written after 23 July represented the Young Ottomans, the CUP members, and the Young Turks as one single body gathered around the ideologies of Ottomanism and nationalism and personalized them with two figures: Mithad Paşa and Namık Kemal. On the other hand, the scripts also represented the old regime by grouping the two head paşas ofthe spy network, (İzzet and Fehim Paşas) and the dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II together. In most of the plays, Sultan Abdülhamid II' s spies tortured innocent people and separated Iovers because of the fallacious reports of the spies. These plays happily ended with the declaration of the Second Constitution and the arrival ofthe national heroes (the Young Turks) who saved the poor people from the tortures of the spies. In general, the !ast scenes depicted the joy of the Ottoman people who acquired freedom, equality and fratemity with the Young Turk Revolution. This plot was so eliehe that the famous playwright of the era Cevdet Maşuk discussed in his article that any of these five-act plays would start by staging the 'age oftyranny', and continue with the devastation and the bust of an

³⁹² Greenblatt, The Shakespearean Negotiations, p. vii.

innocent family because ofthe lies of Sultan Abdülhamid II's spies. The second act would stage the process of interrogation and the third act would demonstrate the tortures. The fourth act would stage the preparations of the Young Turk Revolution, and the fifth would represent the declaration of the Second Constitution and the victory ofthe Young Turks.³⁹³ Indeed, Maşuk's observation was very accurate and can be observed in the majority ofthe post-1908 scripts.

These scripts can be examined in five categories according to their dominant themes. The first group consists ofthe plays depicting Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa as the 'heroes of freedom'. These plays were usually haunted plays, led by the ghosts of Midhat Paşa and Namık Kemal, the two opponents of Sultan Abdülhamid II, and by the muse ofliberty which was usually chained at the first scene and freed in the !ast scene. For instance, Ahmet Balrri's Gasb ve Nedamet ve Yine İhanet' (Seizure and Sorrow and Yet Again Betrayal) can be observed as an example.³⁹⁴ The play aimed to narrate a history of the !ate Ottoman era throughout thirty five acts, as Bahri mentions:

My piece depicts several historical periods. Some names are falsified for necessity. The script is composed ofthirty four scenes, starting from the dethronement of Sultan Abdülaziz, continuing with the reign of Sultan Murad, and staging Sultan Abdülhamid II' s reign from his princehood, until the 31 March Incident. I believe that it will be read impatiently.³⁹⁵

The play started with a scene where Sultan Abdülaziz and his sons panicked about being murdered, and ended in the pavilion of Alatini in Salonika where the dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II resided. In the !ast scene, Abdülhamid II begged for pardon

³⁹³ Cevdet Maşuk "Piyeslerde Üslup," Musavver Hale, (January 1325), quoted in: And, Meşrutiyet Döneminde Türk Tiyatrosu, p. 182.

 

³⁹⁴ Ahmed Bahri, Gasb ve Nedamet Yine ihanet (Selanik: Yeni Asır Matbaası, 1326).

 

³⁹⁵ Ahmed Bahri, Gasb ve Nedamet Yine ihanet (Selanik: Yeni Asır Matbaası, 1326), quoted in: Yalçın, II Meşrutiyette Tiyatro Edebiyatı Tarihi, p.52.

from the ghosts of Namık Kemal and Midhat Paşa that punished him. The script narrated a whole history of the !ate Ottoman politics starting from the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz until the present day from the narratives of the political characters like prominent paşas, sultans, generals ete. As Alemdar Yalçın informs us, the playwright interrupted the text whenever he wanted the audience to participate in the performance by applauding. Throughout the play, the ideas of the Young Turks on the proclamation of the Second Constitution were voiced by the ghost of Mithad Paşa. In a similar fashion, Mehmet Sezai's "national drama" Mithad Paşa Yahut Hükm-i İdam (Mithad Paşa or The Death Sentence) criticized the old regime and the dethroned sultan by staging the execution of Midhat Paşa.³⁹⁶ The play depicted Midhat Paşa's efforts for the reclamation of the constitution. The subsequent act informed the audience on the judge ofMithad Paşa, Sururi, and informed the audience on his personal insecurities, and his cruelties. Sururi was represented as heartless in order to get closer with Sultan Abdülhamid II. The third scene demonstrated the trials ofthe famous paşas in Ta'if, and showed the testimonies of the false witnesses and narrated the unfair decision of execution from the narrative of Sururi. The fourth scene staged the defense of Midhat Paşa, and gave the message: 'The heartless and unjust people will always be judged by God.' The following scene portrayed the joy ofthe commander Bekir since he would rise in the rank when he strangles the famous paşas including Midhat Paşa. The !ast scene took place in Yıldız Palace and depicted Sultan Abdülhamid II's joy when he handled the head of Midhat Paşa brought by Bekir in a box. However, he could not enjoy his victory since the ghost of Midhat Paşa came and judged him. At the end of the play, Sultan Abdülhamid II lost his mind, when he saw the ghost ofMithat Paşa. The play Mithad

³⁹⁶ Mehmet Sezai, Mithat Paşa Yahut Hülan-i !dam (İzmir: Keşişyan Matbaası, 1328).

Paşa Yahut Hükm-i İdam, in a way 'executed' Sultan Abdülhamid II, and aimed to display his 'real character' to the Ottoman public. üne !ast example I want to mention is Mithad Cemal Kuntay's Kemal which depicted the ghosts of Namık Kemal and Midhat Paşa.³⁹⁷ The play started by staging Namık Kemal's and Mithad Paşa's efforts to reestablish the constitutional monarchy, and continued with a scene depicting Malmıud Nedim Paşa. Malmıud Nedim Paşa indeed celebrated the hanging ofMithad Paşa and the exile of Namık Kemal. Throughout the play, bribery and corruption of the high offıcers in Yıldız Palace were staged. The play ended with a highly symbolic scene portraying Namık Kemal's sorrow when he heard of Midhat Paşa's murder. Namık Kemal, then fell asleep andjudged Sultan Abdülhamid II in his drearn.

Actually, using ghosts to invoke the past, to give historical information, to face and to judge history has been a widely used method, especially in the works of Shakespeare which were frequently translated to Ottoman Turkish in the early 1900s. Marvin Carlson who examined the 'ghostly' narratives in his book The Haunted Stage: The Theatre asa Memory Machine, argued that both the ghosts and the dreams were products ofa complex relationship between the theater and cultural memory:

Ali theatrical cultures have recognized, in some form or another, this

ghostly quality, this sense of something coming back in the theatre, and so the relationship between theatre and cultural memory were deep and complex. (... ) A parallel process can be seen in dreaming, which as many dream theorists have observed, hada distinct similarities in the private experience to the public experience oftheatre.³⁹⁸

The theoretical framework offered by Carlson helps to reinterpret the dreams and the ghosts of the tlıree leading political figures: Namık Kemal, Mithad Paşa and Sultan

³⁹⁷ Mithat Cemal Kuntay, Kemal (İstanbul: Sırat-ı Müstakim Matbaası, 1328).

 

³⁹⁸ Carlson, The Haunted Stage, pp. 2-3.

Abdülhamid II. The ghosts of Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa were indeed recreated on stage with more radical discourses defıning the political agenda of the Committee ofUnion and Progress. They represented the anti-Hamidian opposition ofthe Young Turks, rather than Namık Kemal's idea of 'synthesis', which favored the Islamic character ofthe Ottoman state. In a way, the visualization ofthe Hamidian era and the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 used these symbolic fıgures to propagate the politics ofthe Committee ofUnion and Progress.

As opposed to Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa who represented 'honesty, justice, equality', Fehim Paşa and İzzet (Holo) Paşa, the two leading politicians of the Hamidian era, who were also acting as the heads of the intemal espionage system that Sultan Abdülhamid II built in the palace, represented 'corruption, tortuosity, injustice and sexual aberration' in the Ottoman Palace. The plays led by Fehim and İzzet Paşas form the second group in the repertoire ofthe milli facia geme. Scripts depicted the spies working for the espionage system, and demonstrated that they wrote millions of fallacious reports, called 'jurnal' according to their personal relations. A popular theme of these plays was sexual harassment which broke up imıocent Ottoman families. These scripts, as can be expected, happily ended with the declaration of the Second Constitution, which freed young girls from sexual harassment of Sultan Abdülhamid II and his spies. The plays also aimed at triggering the Ottoman social values and deepening a sense of 'revenge' towards the old regime. üne ofthe fırst examples ofthese scripts was Hüseyin Suat Yalçın's Şehbal Yahut İstibdatın Son Perdesi (Şehbal or the Last Scene ofthe Tyranny).³⁹⁹ In the fırst scene, Fehim Paşa saw Şehbal, a newly-wed young woman in the street, found her

³⁹⁹ Hüseyin Suat Yalçın, "Şehbal Yahut İstibdatm Son Perdesi," Aşiyan Mecmuası, no. 17 (1324), pp. 10-14.

attractive, and assaulted her household. Fehim Paşa threatened her, and told that he would kili her family unless she marries him. 'The poor gir!' married him to save her family, but she was tortured and kicked out after a short time. Şehbal started to work asa housemaid, but got sick and died on 23 July before she could celebrate the joy of the revolution! In a similar fashion, Mehmet Burhaneddin's Fehim Paşa⁴⁰⁰ and Ali Haydar's Nereye? (Where?)4°¹ staged sexual violence ofthe corrupted Fehim Paşa.

The plays, like many other Fehim Paşa plays, staged the lynching of Fehim Paşa after the declaration of the Second Constitution.

Fehime Nüzhet, a prominent Ottoman female writer andan active political figure in the CUP also wrote two scripts condemning the spy network. The first of these, Bir Zalimin Encamı (The Fate ofa Cruel Man), was on the corruption ofthe espionage system, bribery, and the sexual harassment ofthe spies. Nüzhet narrated the family dramas caused by the fallacious reports of the spies, and staged the lynching of the Fehim Paşa.⁴⁰² Besides these representations, the play was particularly important since it exposed Fehim Nüzhet's ideas. She argued for the women's' rights, and voiced her political ideas through the narrative of an elderly man. In her second play, Adalet Yerini Buldu (Justice Was Done), Nüzhet staged the corrupted relationship ofthe spy Fazıl with his family, the failure of his intimate relationships and the calamity ofthe events.⁴⁰³ The play, focusing on the family relationships ended with a scene where the Second Constitution was proclaimed, and

the Young Turks established an 'equal andjust' system. Again, İbnücemal Ahmet

⁴⁰⁰ Mehmet Burlıanettin, Fehim Paşa (İstanbul: Matbaa-i İkbal, 1327).

 

⁴⁰¹ Ali Haydar Emir, Nereye? (Beş Fasıldan İbaret Tiyatro (Facia)) (İstanbul: Suhulet Kütüphanesi, 1327).

 

⁴⁰² Fehiıne Nüzhet, Bir Zalimin Encamı, "Merhum Hakkı Paşa Kerimesi Nüzhet" (İstanbul: Karabet Matbaası, 1324).

 

⁴⁰³ Fehime Nüzhet, Adalet Yerini Buldu (İstanbul: Karabet Matbaası, 1326).

Tevfik's İstibdat'ın Son Günü yahut Zavallı Valide (The Final Day ofthe Tyranny or Poor Mother),⁴⁰⁴ Halil İbrahim's Rüşvetle Mesned (Built by Eribe), ⁴⁰⁵ and Vahit Lüftü's Hafiye Darbesi Yahut Bir Kızın İntikamı (Coup of Spies or the Revenge ofa Gir!), staged the sorrow of innocent people, and ended by taking revenge from, or by lynching Fehim Paşa on stage.⁴⁰⁶ While Fehim Paşa was the leading actor ofthe scripts themed around family tragedies, some other plays like Yusuf Niyazi Ebu Kemal's Mülevves yahut Bir Casusun Akıbeti (The Dirty ora Spy's Doom) depicted İzzet (Holo) Paşa as the representative ofthe espionage system.⁴⁰⁷ Yusuf Niyazi illustrated İzzet Paşa and his deputy Süreyya as heartless, corrupted butchers and judged them in his scripts. The play represented how Süreyya's wife suffered from his husband's sexual perversions. The play ended with a scene where a woman-­ sexually abused by Süreyya-- killed Süreyya. The scripts on Sultan Abdülhamid II's espionage system and the two leadingpaşas, Fehim and İzzet Paşas aimed to stage the bribery, torture, and sexual abuse practiced by the spies. Centering on family dramas and sexual harassment of young girls, these plays form the most radical examples of the 'milli facia' genre.

The 'evi!' aspects ofthe Hamidian era were not only represented by the two leading political actors, İzzet and Fehim Paşas, but also by Sultan Abdülhamid II himself, after the Counter-Revolution of April 1909, and the dethronement of the Sultan. A third group ofpost-1908 scripts were written to judge Abdülhamid II on stage. While the majority ofthe plays representing İzzet and Fehim Paşas were on

⁴⁰⁴ İbnülcemal Ahmed Tevfik, İstibdatın Son Günü Yahut Zavallı Valide (Facia 5 Perde) (İstanbul: İkbal Kütüphanesi, 1926).

 

⁴⁰⁵ Halil İbrahim, Rüşvetle Mesned (Askeri ve Milli Dram) (İstanbul: İkbal Matbaası, 1326).

 

⁴⁰⁶ Vahit Lütfi, Hafiye Darbesi Yahut Bir Kızın İntikamı (İstanbul: n. p., 1337).

 

⁴⁰⁷ YusufNiyazi-Ebukemal, Mülevves Yahut Bir Casusun Akıbeti (İstanbul: n. p., 1327).

sexual harassment, the plays depicting Abdülhamid II used different stories and plots to put him on trial. For instance, in Dr. Kamil's (a prominent CUP member) Canlı Cenaze Yahut Yıldız'da Meşrutiyet Telaşları (The Cadaver Like Person or the Constitutional Panic in Yıldız), Abdülhamid was portrayed as an insecure, timid, powerless and pathetic person.⁴⁰⁸ The play represents a typical post-1908 script, where the Hamidian era was portrayed as a period of corruption, while the CUP members were depicted as national fighters influenced by the French revolutionary examples. A second example for the third group of plays was Abdülhalim Memduh and Refik Nevzat's Abdülhamit ve Genç Bir Harem Ağası (Abdülhamid anda Young Eunuch).⁴⁰⁹ The play portrayed Sultan Abdülhamid II reading each and every fallacious report of the spies, and punishing innocent people. The serip! also touched upon Sultan Abdülhamid II's nnjust policies in the diplomacy. Moreover, the play mentioned that Abdülhamid II granted some insignificant people with imperial orders, whereas he exiled very influential politicians. The play ended with a scene where a young eunuchjudged him ofbeing corrupt and forced him to resign from his post. While the eunuch forced him to resign, the audience also saw the Ottoman people who gathered in the garden ofthe palace, shouting: 'Long !ive the constitution!' In the !ast scene, the young eunuch symbolized the revenge of the oppressed classes and the slaves. Through the play, the authors narrated Sultan Abdülhamid II's personality with his own speeches and intemal feuds. For instance, the tirade below by Sultan Abdülhamid II aimed to display his 'ruthless' character:

Abdülhamit: I swear in the name of God. With the name of God, I will put everyone in each other's custody. I will sacrifice the souls to

⁴⁰⁸ (Dr.) Kamil, Canlı Cenaze Yahut Yıldız'da Meşrutiyet Telaşları (İstanbul: Arşak Garoyan Maatbaası, 1325).

⁴⁰⁹ Abdülhalim Memduh and Refik Nevzaı Abdülhamit ve Genç Bir Harem Ağası (İstanbul: Suhulet Kitaphanesi, 1326).

corpses, the corpses to souls. I will darken and ruin the sun, the moon and stars. I will oppress and torture until no body, no heart, no brain, no canscience and no mercy is left in Turkey.

I will devastate the religians of Mohannned, Jesus and Moses. I will force to convert Muslims to Christianity, Christians to

Judaism, and Jews to Islam. I will be the tyrant. Yes, like awls, above the dust ofthe children ofthe country, I will govem the Ottoman Sultanate. I will ruin everything. In this world, only I will reign by myself.⁴¹⁰

 

Abdülhalim Memduh and Refik Nevzat co-authored a secand script on the very same subject but focused only on two figures: Sultan Abdülhamid II and Vicdan ('conscience'). The play Abdülhamid ile Vicdan (Abdülhamid and Conscience) focused on the dialogues between Sultan Abdülhamid II and his conscience embodied asa female muse.⁴¹¹ The muse Vicdanjudged Sultan Abdülhamid II for every single failure, mistake, cruelty, and torture he committed in the !ast decades, and portrayed him as a paranoid, insecure, heartless, timid and corrupted person.

After long tirades of Vicdan that put Sultan Abdülhamid II on trial, Sultan Abdülhamid II committed suicide. Moralızade Vassaf's Yıldız Faciaları (Tragedies of Yıldız) included probably some ofthe harshest and aggressive critiques about Sultan Abdülhamid II and his spies.⁴¹² The play does not anly partray Sultan Abdülhamid II as a carrupted Sultan having fun with the yaung and beautiful girls of the imperial harem, but alsa asa non-believer. Yıldız Faciaları includes some tauching scenes aftarture and dialogues afthe tarturers, namely Bekir and İzzet Paşas. Far instance, Beşir and İzzet Paşas' discussion on tarturing some Yaung Turks aimed ta reveal the suffering of the revolutianaries under the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II to the theater audience:

⁴¹⁰ ibid., pp. 28-30, quoted in Özlem Nemutlu, "II. Meşrutiyetten Cumhuriyetin İlanına Kadar İzmir'de Tiyatro Faaliyetleri," p. 200.

 

⁴ıı Abdülhalim Memduh and Refık Nevza "Abdülhamid ve Vicdan," Aherık, (14-22 May, 1909).

 

⁴¹² Moralızade Vassaf, Yıldız Faciaları (İstanbul: Suhulet Kütüphanesi, 1327).

Beşir Bey: Ah, but they are not afraid of dying. We did what could be done. We also spilled bucketfuls of cold water on them; that water layer by layer froze on their scarred faces, on their rugged bodies covered by blood, aud on their tom clothes. They are bleeding profusely from their noses. Each aud every part of their bodies is injured aud scarred. Yet they stili shout at us 'bastards, villains, and traitors!' Look how daring they are!

İzzet Paşa: (Stauding up augrily) I know how to force them to talk aud kili them!⁴¹³

The play ended with a Young Turk (Ali Rahim) cursing Abdülhamit: "God... Let our revenge fal! upon Sultau Abdülhamid II; my God give him the worst disaster, your greatest tribulation!"⁴¹⁴

Interestingly, the Unionist playwrights touched upon the minority politics aud again condemned Sultau Abdülhamid II. As a CUP follower, Mehmet İhsan staged the Armeniau uprisings of 1895 in his play Ermeni Mazlumları Yahut Fedakar bir Türk Zabiti (The Oppressed Armeniaus ora Devoted Turkish Offıcer). ⁴¹⁵ The pro­ Armenian play staged the massacre of the Armeniau groups, aud accused Sultau Abdülhamid II aud his govemment. Moreover, in the play these Armeniau families were protected by the Young Turks aud the members of the CUP. The fırst scene took place in Artin Efendi's house, whose brother was lynched by the Muslims. The scene informed the audience that outside the house, the Muslims attacked the Armeniaus, lynching aud killing them with sticks aud stones. In the subsequent scene, the unionist soldier Fazıl Bey saved Artin Efendi's scared family. Upon that, Fazıl Bey was exiled to the island Rhodes by Sultau Abdülhamid II's govemment. The play ended happily with a final scene staging the declaration of the Second Constitution which 'introduced liberty, fratemity, and equality to the Ottomau

⁴¹³ ibid., p. 11.

 

⁴¹⁴ ibid., p. 76.

 

⁴¹⁵ Mehmet İhsan, Ermeni Mazlumları Yahut Fedakar bir Türk Zabiti (İstanbul: Kanaat Kütüphanesi, 1324).

subjects regardless oftheir ethnicity'. Differing from the previously mentioned plays, Ermeni Mazlumları Yahut Fedakar bir Türk Zabiti emphasized that the CUP was indeed protecting the non-Muslims. Recalling that the CUP's politics towards non­ Muslim population was stricter, one can argue that the play aimed to legitimize the CUP's power within the non-Muslim society as well.

As can be seen, the 'evils ofthe old regime' were not alone on stage. The heroes ofthe post-1908 plays consisted ofthe CUP members, Young Turks, and their followers. The fourth group ofplays was on the organization ofthe CUP and the declaration of the Second Constitution. Young Turks were the leading actors of these plays staging the clashes between the new and the old regimes. They usually died for their motto 'freedom, equality and fraternity' and fought against the tyranny of Sultan Abdülhamid II. For instance, Selanikli Hilmi 's Menfi/er Yahut Felaket-i İstibdat (The Exiles or the Disaster of Tyranny) staged the grief of the Young Turks under the despotism of Sultan Abdülhamid II.⁴¹⁶ At the end ofthe play, the exiled Young Turks were freed with the declaration of the Second Constitution. In a parallel

!ine, Hasan Nadir's Devr-i Sabıkta Vükela (Ministers in the Old Regime) staged Young Turks' efforts to reestablish the constitutional monarchy.⁴¹⁷ Both ofthe plays demonstrated the organization of the CUP and their rituals. The idea of staging the secret organization to the public was indeed a common feature of this group of plays. Similarly, Moralızade Vassafs Mukaddime-i İnkilap (Preface to the Revolution) represented the struggle of the Young Turks under the tyranny of Sultan Abdülhamid

II.418 Again, another play displaying the torture and the torment ofthe Young Turks

 

⁴¹⁶ Hilmi (Selanikli), Menfi/er Yahut Fe/aket-i İstibdat (İstanbul: n.p., 1327).

 

⁴¹⁷ Hasan Nadir, Devr-i Sabıkta Vükela (İstanbul: Kanaat Kütüphanesi, 1326).

 

⁴¹⁸ Moralızade Vassaf, Mukaddime-i lnki/ap (İstanbul: İkbal Kütüphanesi, 1335).

was Ahmet Hilmi Şehbenderzade 's İstibdatın Vahşetleri yahut Bir Fedainin Ölümü (The Brutalities ofthe Tyranny or the Death of an Assassin).⁴¹⁹ Likewise, Halil Rüştü's 10 Temmuz 1324 (10 July 1324) represented the boredom and the struggle of a nationalist peasant Recep and his role model Unionist Hüseyin Bey to 'awaken the Ottoman public' under the old regime.⁴²⁰ Expectedly, the play ended with the proclamation of the Second Constitution which solved ali the struggles and conflicts in the society. The plays on the social and political activities ofthe Young Turks also touched upon the organization ofthe CUP abroad, and namely in Egypt, France and Britain. For instance, the playwright Sait Hikmet, a strong follower ofthe CUP, represented the operation of the Young Turks and their society in Paris in his play: Mazi ve Ati (The Past and the Future).⁴²¹ In the play, a Young Turk (the principal character of the play) Refik Bey was exiled to Fizan, but found a way to escape to Egypt and then to Paris where he met with other CUP members and Young Turks.

Actually, one can see a similar gist in Aka Gündüz's Aşk ve İstibdat (Love and the Tyranny).⁴²² The play staged the struggle ofa revolutionist named Ali, and his collaboration with the secret organization of CUP for the future of his nation. üne other very influential play raising discussions in the newspapers was the co-authored work of Tahsin Nahid and Nevvare Ruhsar: Jön Türk (Young Turk).⁴²³ The main character ofthe play, Nihad, a nationalist young man falls in love with Kazım Paşa's (a !oya! paşa of Sultan Abdülhamid II) daughter. Upon their quarrels, Kazım Paşa

⁴¹⁹ Ahmet Hilmi Şehbenderzade, İstibdatın Vahşetleri yahut Bir Fedainin Ölümü (İstanbul: Müşterek'ül Menfa Osmanlı Şirketi Matbaası, 1326).

 

⁴²⁰ Halil Rüştü, 10 Temmuz 1324 (Bursa: Matbaa-i Amire, 1324).

 

⁴²¹ Sait Hikmet, Mazi ve Ati (İstanbul: Matbaa-i Hayriye ve Şürekası, 1325).

 

⁴²² Aka Gündtiz, "Aşk ve İstibdat," Kadın Mecmuası, no. 16; 21; 25, (1325).

 

⁴²³ Tahsin Nahit and Nevvare Ruhsar, Jön-Türk (İstanbul: n. p., 1325).

forced Nihad to leave their house. Nihad found a way to join the British freemason community aud left the Ottomau lauds. After the declaration of the Second Constitution, Kazım Paşa was prisoned aud Nihad returned to İstaubul, married Kazım Paşa's daughter aud distributed Kazım Paşa's wealth to the poor peasauts in Anatolia. The play ended with a scene where the Ottomau public shouted "Long !ive the constitution, long !ive the liberty!" Jön Türkwas particularly significaut since it represented the CUP's relations with other secret communities aud groups. Most of the plays depicting the CUP members aud Young Turks as the main characters staged the events paving the way for the declaration of the Second Constitution in Mauastır. These plays usually depicted the murder ofthe Ferik Şemsi, aud the symbolic climb of soldiers to the mountain in Mauastır to represent the experience of 'proclaiming the Second Constitution'. The plays centering on the heroism ofthe Young Turks aud the CUP members apparently tried to recreate the operation of the secret Committee ofUnion aud Progress aud the political organization ofthe Young Turks on stage. These plays tried to propagate the mottos of the revolutionaries 'liberty, equality aud the fraternity' through the stories oftorment, grief aud love, aud tried to reshape public opinion. While the Young Turks appeared as national heroes in the scripts writtenjust after the Revolution of 1908, by the !ate 1910s, they appeared as the war-criminals. The milli facia genre that condeınned Sultau Abdülhamid II was ironically used to judge the Unionists aud their decision to fight in the First World War by the !ate 1910s. The plays written by the end ofthe 1910s

like Hürriyet Kurbanları (the Victims ofFreedom)⁴²4,or Caniler Saltanatı (The

 

 

 

 

 

⁴²⁴ İhsan Adli, Haile-i Mahmut Ş<fVket-Hürriyet Kurbanları (Edirne: Vilayet Matbaası, 1335).

Sultanate of the Villains)4²⁵ condernned the CUP leaders for being responsible for the territorial and the demographical losses on stage.

CUP members became more and more "despotic" as they established their power in the society after their successful suppression ofthe Counter-Revolution of April 1909. Throughout 1900s, the scripts did not only serve to spread the ideologies of the CUP and to legitimize them but they also served to spread contemporary events like the organization and suppression ofthe Counter-Revolution of April, 1909. The scripts narrating the '31 March Incident' forms the !ast group of plays that I want to mention. The attempt of Counter- Revolution made signifıcant changes in the repertoire of the milli facia. While the old regime was personalized as Fehim Paşa or İzzet Paşa in the scripts published between July 1908- April 1909, the scripts written after the dethronement of Sultan Abdülhamid II depicted the old Sultan as the symbol of corruption, and judged him on stage. For instance, Dr. Kamil's Dönmez Yüz yahut Hürriyet Ordusu (The Unbending Face or the Army of Liberty) staged the '31 March Incident' in great detail, and portrayed Sultan Abdülhamid II as the organizer ofthis religious rebellion.⁴²⁶ The play 'informed' the audience that Sultan Abdülhamid II helped the newspaper Volkan and the soldiers of Avcı Taburu in the revolt. On the other hand, the muse ofliberty, ghosts of Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa usually appeared andjudged Abdülhamid II's personality and his political character. Throughout the play, the 31 March Incident was staged and Sultan Abdülhamid II was depicted as the one who organized the rebellion. The fırst scene enacted the revolt. The subsequent scene visualized the discussions of the CUP members in Salonika and the formation ofthe Hürriyet Ordusu (Army ofLiberty).

⁴²⁵ Bulgurlıızade Rıza, Caniler Saltanatı (Manzum Bir Facia) (İstanbul: Kader Matbaası, 1919).

 

⁴²⁶ (Dr.) Kamil, Dönmez Yüz yahut Hürriyet Ordusu (İstanbul: Necm- i İstiklal Matbaası, n.d.)

 

The following scene shifted to the Yıldız Palace and demonstrated Sultan Abdülhamid II's fears. In the subsequent scenes, the Hareket Ordusu (Action Army) suppressed the revolt, and girded the Yıldız Palace. Esat Paşa informed the audience that Abdülhamid was dethroned, and the play ended with a highly symbolic scene depicting the ghosts of the martyrs, Louis XIV, Sultan Abdülhamid II and Derviş Vahdetti (the leading name of the revolt) together, accompanied by the anthem of liberty. The close relationship drawn with the French Revolution and martyrs of liberty judging the political figures aimed to represent the complex nature of this historical process to the Ottoman public in a very simple and biased manner to recreate the past in the collective memories. The dialogues of the unionists aimed to arouse the national feelings ofthe audience. For instance, a short poem ofDr. Kamil was recited at the very begiuning of the play to voice the feelings of the Ottoman public towards Abdülhamid II:

Behold, behold that your doom comes soon. There is no possibility of your salvation.

Your life is at the hand of the free ones. Oh your death is soon!

Your agony is great in the world beyond, Do not speak, I do not heed to listen to you,

If you have a reply, save it for the Reaper.⁴²⁷

 

The poem, which carries the same biases with the narrative of the whole script, represents the ways in which Sultan Abdülhamid II was judged on stage in front of the audience. Another play 'divinely judging' the dethroned Sultan Abdülhamid II upon the 31 March Incident was Mehmed İhsan's Hırs-ı Saltanat Yahut İntikam-ı

⁴²⁷ "Bil bil ki yakındadır zevalin. Kurtulınağa yoktur ihtimalin.

Alırarın elindedir hayatın.

Vah yakındır mematın!

Ukbada büyüktür ıstırabın,

Söz söyleme dinlemem hitabın,

Azrail'e varsa ver cevabın."

(Dr.) Kamil, Dönmez Yüz yahut Hürriyet Ordusu (İstanbul: Necm- i İstiklal Matbaası, n.d.), quoted in: Alemdar Yalçın 11Meşrutiyette Tiyatro Edebiyatı Tarihi, p. 128.

Meşru-ı Millet (The Rage of Sultanate or the Legitimate Revenge of the Nation).⁴²⁸ The play depicted Sultan Abdülhamid II' s alliance with Derviş Vahdeti and Hamdi Çavuş to organize the Counter-Revolution of April 1909. The subsequent scene demonstrated the discussion of the soldiers, and informed the audience on the events of 13 April. The play, similar to the others, represented the suppression ofthe uprising and the dethronement of Sultan Abdülhamid II. The last act showing Abdülhamid II' s fears after the attempted assassination, was the most interesting part ofthe play. In this section, the ghosts of Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa interrogated Abdülhamid II. Abdülhamid's feelings and fears given as inner monologs were remarkable since they represented the way in which the revolutionary public wanted to see him:⁴²⁹

Abdülhamid: I understand they want to kill me in agony and tortııre.

Well, I wonder what will happen to me... Will I spend every hour of my life isolated from the world? Or do the people want to get their revenge in this way? How can pleasure come in such an unpleasant life deprived ofthe sultanate? Will I spend the rest ofmy life in such a reprehension and burden of the nation? No, I will not !ive, I will die. (He stands up by addressing his vicinity with an ambitious look.) No, no I will not die, I will live. I will take revenge on those who wants to take revenge on me. I will refuse any offer for my wealth; I will dismiss them from my sight. I will reveal rage and violence (calming down) Oh, no! Will I be successful, will I counter the weapon of vengeance pointed at me?! Alas! Oh, how exhausted and how tired my body is... My eyes merely want to be shut. (Meanwhile a dark silhouette and a great rurnble emerge. Abdülhamid, not being strong enough to move, is possessed by fear and fever. A mental seiznre begins to strike him. A great paleness invades his face. The rurnble continues.)

The text continues with 'a scene oftrial' upon the emergence ofthe ghosts of Namık Kemal and Mithad Paşa:

 

428 Mehnıed İhsan. Hırs-ı Saltanat Yahut İntikam-ı Meşru-ı Millet (İstanbul: Arşak Garoyan Matbaası,

1327).

 

⁴²⁹ ibid., pp. 91-96.

Abdülhamid: Oh my God, what is happening? I anı frightened! (The noise is continuously heard; in the rear ofthe garden the dead cross with their necks and arms chained. Following this, those in bloody shrouds pass by. Then the corpses pass by. And Abdülhamid begins to tremble violently.)

 

Abdülhamid: Oh, they are threatening me... I see, the dead and the alive of the nation want to get revenge on me. (Meanwhile two men in shrouds appear. Side by side they approach Abdülhamid. Abdülhamid, his ehin narrowed and his face acquiring that of the state of the two dead in front ofhim, speaks in a trembling voice):

 

Abdülhamid: Who are you?

 

First Dead: Two victims sentenced to the oppression ofthe oppressor. Abdülhamid: The oppression of tlıe oppressor? Who is the oppressor? The Second Dead: You!

Abdülhamid: Who are you?

 

The First one: Mithad and Kemal! Abdülhamid: What do you want from me?

The Second one: The improvement of the state !hat you could not accomplish yet.

 

Abdülhamid: What I did to you...

 

The First one: What you did to us and to the nation is beyond comprehension... Every second ofyour life was spent with murders. The nation, far thirty faur years, has fargiven you far the nobility and justice ofyour dynasty... And you gnawed on this property and the nation witlı your perpetual brigandage which has nothing to do with the caliphate. You ruined and destroyed the state treasury. You wasted tlıe law at tlıe expense of your illegitimate goals and ambitions. The nation fargave your holy caliphate, not yourself, but again you could not improve the state. Finally you made this holy state and its nation miserable. People who are destined to a certain collapse did not have any more strength to fargive you. The nation had again showed generosity and they dethroned you, saving your life along.

 

The Second one: And this dethronement became the legitimate vengeance of the nation. Yet this modest vengeance is stili benefaction at tlıe expense ofyour thirty faur-year-oppression. From now on, spend your life praying far tlıe virtue and development of the state and the nation. Wipe out the wratlı and the hostility from your heart. Leave all your wealth and estates where you had seized them. Pray far

(pointing at tl:ıe rear side with his finger) tl:ıe forgiveness of tl:ıose poor people that you enslaved for your ambition of reign and tyranny. (The table removes. The reactionaries are seen in the gallows tree. Cevher is also seen among tl:ıem. Ali of them point at Abdülhamid.)

 

Abdülhamit: (Terrifıed) They ali point at me, they address me as the reason for rebellion. Oh, Cevher, Cevher is tl:ıere! (His hands closing his face) Oh, I cannot take this... What a doomed person, what an oppressive sultan I was! Forgive me... Oh holy God, forgive me. I take sanctuary in your grandeur. (He falls onto the chair and faints).

 

The First Dead: This one should not die, but !ive!

 

The Second Dead: Yes, every hour of his life is now sufferance for him!

These scenes of interrogations and trials by the ghosts of the syrnbolic political figures were one oftl:ıe most important parts ofthe post-1908 political repertoire, not only because they staged a 'divine punishment', but also since they gave a particular historical narrative on the Hamidian era. Again, a very similar play staging the Counter-Revolution of April 1909 was Ahmet Cevat's Yıldızın Sonu (The End of the Yıldız).⁴³⁰ The play depicted Abdülhamid as the financial sponsor ofthe Counter­ Revolution. The play, in parallel to the previously mentioned ones, staged the revolts, the preparation of the army and tl:ıe success of the army in suppressing the revolts. Differing from other '31 March Incident' plays, Yıldızın Sonu was accompanied witl:ı a love story demonstrating Abdülhamid's failure in his personal life as well. Abdülhamid's favorite actually loved a Unioırist, Subay Cemal. The Sultan who could not handle the failures in each and every single aspect of his life killed that young woman by the end ofthe play. Besides these three, a number of

 

 

 

 

 

 

nı Ahmet Cevat Emre, Yıldızın Sonu (l•stanbu1 : J.ıra.ır Keteon Matbaası, 1325).

other plays, as discussed in the works of Metin And and Alemdar Yalçın, aimed to stage the Counter-Revolution of April 1909.⁴³¹

All these fıve groups of plays, standing between history and imagination formed an anti-Haınidian repertoire. Because ofthe limitations ofthe topic, this study could only touch upon a limited number of plays and had to leave many others behind. Although one should never take these scripts at their face value, the textual analyses ofthese plays and the political representations they include may reveal some understudied aspects of the !ate Ottoman politics like the intemational operations of the CUP. Besides their historical narratives, what made these scripts signifıcant for social scientists was the juxtaposed representation ofthe old and new regimes. How these popular scripts constructed a historical narrative and reshaped the contemporary events ofthe day for the audience was particularly important to interpret the collective imagination ofthe !ate 1900s. I retum to my departure point and recall the new historicist approach with Greenblatt's statement:

I propose that we begin by taking seriously the collective production of literary pleasure and interest. We know that this production was collective since language itself, which was at the heart of literary power, was the supreme instance ofa collective creation. (... )Theatre was manifestly the product of collective intentions and the moment of

inscription, was itself a social moment. Moreover, the theatre addresses ı•ts aud"ıence as a coil ectı•vı•ty.⁴³²

 

Within this theoretical fraınework, I can argue that these scripts offer us clues on particular aspects ofthe collective imagination in the !ate 1900s. The majority ofthe plays written after 1909 represented 'the tyranny of the ancien regime, and tried to legitimize the 'reign ofthe CUP'. Even though one cannot know their popularity and

⁴³¹ For fıırtlıer discussion on the plays, see: Alemdar Yalçın, II Meşrutiyette Tiyatro Edebiyatı Tarihi (Ankara: Akçağ Basın Yayın, 2002), Metin And, Meşrutiyet Döneminde Türk Tiyatrosu. (Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1971).

 

⁴³² Greenblatt, The Shakespearean Negotiations, p. 4.

actual performances, the very production of these texts, parallel to the Ottoman cartoon space of the !ate l 900s, aimed to reshape public opinion with their historical narratives. The plays, novels, histories and newspapers ofthe age, all accusing the old regime, were influential in the formation of public opinion. This public opinion was created via the performances, publications and historical narratives which defined the old regime as a 'tyranny'. They all played an important role in the formation ofa historiographical discourse depicting the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II as 'oppression and tyranny' and the reign of the Committee of Union and Progress as 'freedom and democracy'.

Standing between fact and fiction, the political repertoire shaped and was

 

shaped by the dominant historical narratives of the Ottoman intelligentsia. The representation of the old regime, Sultan Abdülhamid II, the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the 31 March Incident did not only aim to propagate the reign ofthe CUP, but also reshaped and retold the recent history on the stage for the audience. Theater ofthe post-revolutionary era became a forum for discussions, staging contemporary events, judging and praising political figures on the stage. With these qualities, theater did not only act like the press, but also offered access to the recent social and political developments for the Ottoman public. Therefore, the political repertoire played a significant role in shaping public opinion and the collective imagination.

To conclude, I should also underline the subjectivity ofthe repertoire selected

 

in the above analysis. Given the breadth of the literature on the !ate Ottoman drama, only a limited number of politically loaded scripts were presented as examples of the national tragedy or national drama genres. All these scripts, whether they were

performed or not, were indeed much more complex than I could study in detail within the limitations of this thesis.

CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSION:

SITUATING THE POLITICAL THEATER IN TURKISH HISTORIOGRAPHY

 

 

Standing between fact and fıction, developments in theater during the post-1908 era were also 'staged' in the press ofthe !ate Ottoman era. The theater ofthe post­ revolutionary era directly reflected the recent developments in the Ottoman domestic and international politics and was crucial in communicating politics to the masses in its own fashion. The narratives ofthe Ottoman satirical press and the periodicals clearly show how the post-1908 theater both shaped and was shaped by the dominant historiographical discourses of the Unionist Ottoman intellectuals. Theater was, therefore, very signifıcant in modeling public opinion in an age when it was the most important medium ofvisual communication.

The play scripts written after 1908 became a space where one couldjudge the

 

old regime or glorify the new one. Although it is not possible to know whether these plays were popular or not, or even whether they were performed at al!, theater served as a public space where the contemporary events were staged, judged or glorifıed, and where people shared their feelings and thoughts on how to interpret the new political developments. In this historical context, the popular theater operated as a courtroom for the trial of the old regime. Putting the despotic old regime on trial gave way to the glorifıcation of the new regirne as an outcome ofa gradual social transformation, putting the theater in the center ofa 'discourse of Westernization'.

Theater thus became an indispensable part of the political life of the nineteenth century with the growing importance of the public spaces and the invention of mass politics.

It is important to see how the political theater continued to reflect contemporary events even after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and operated as one of the most signifıcant agencies to interpret the current political change in modem Turkey as well. As theater became an important aspect ofthe Ottoman social and political life throughout the !ate nineteenth century, in the following decades, it kept its role in shaping public opinion in parallel to the press, and becarne an important aspect ofthe social life in Turkey.

To give a few exarnples, one may start with the change that followed the First World War. Theater, used asa means to form public opinion, encouraged people to 'fıght' rather than to 'judge' the old regime by the eve ofthe War. However, after the First World War, the repertoire changed and plays started to blarne the CUP for the Ottoman defeat. By 1918, a certain repertoire had been formed as to condemn the members of the CUP, which left its place after the declaration of the Turkish Republic in 1923 to a new theater primarily used to promote the new republican regime. This new theater followed indeed the very sarne genre of play/repertoire that both glorifıed the rule of the CUP after 1908, and accused them once the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the First World War.

With the declaration of the Turkish Republic, theater alsa becarne a new platform to celebrate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the ultimate hero ofthe past wars, including the First World War and the Independence War. Here theater was used once again to construct a historiographical discourse, which while glorifying the national leader Mustafa Kemal on the one hand, represented an Ottoman history as a history of oppression aod corruption on the other. The plays written after the proclarnation of the Turkish Republic promoted the ideals of the new regime under the leadership ofa charismatic leader, Atatürk. In his analysis of 'inkılap temsilleri',

Levent Boyacıoğlu provides us with this republican theater genre where women's emancipation, commitment to Westem arts and sciences, an imagined bright future for the Republic ofTurkey had been laid out.⁴³³ People's Houses, the Republican network of loca! cultural centers took on a fundamental role in disseminating such plays, offering a ground just like the post-1908 plays to forma collective memory judging the old regime and promoting the new one. Mustafa Kemal, himself, placed 'theater' within the discourse of civilization and encouraged the idea ofa national theater. Just like Sultan Abdülaziz and Sultan Abdülhamid II, he used theater in diplomacy by hosting the Iranian shah at an opera performance for the reception ceremony.⁴³⁴ Mustafa Kemal's approach to theater was indeed very 'Ottoman', following the Ottoman Westemization paradigm set by the Ottoman Sultans.

The nature ofthe !ate Ottoman political theater, best represented in the milli facia genre or its Republican version, the so-called inkılap temsilleri continued to re­ emerge in other forms during the later decades of the Republican era. After the coup d'etat of 1960, for instance, theater was used asa public space where the workers' strikes and unionization found their first organizations.⁴³⁵ Throughout the years 1960- 1971, theater acted asa space where the debates between the radical left and extreme right were staged for larger audiences. Just like it was in the days following the Revolutiou of 1908, theater became 'political' with the audience's performances and govemment' s censorship, not with the repertoire.

Especially in the mid-1960s, theaters became public spaces where the plays were violently attacked and interrupted by groups from extreme right or radical left

⁴³³ For further infonnation, see: Levent Boyacıoğlu, "Tek Parti Döneminde İnkılap Temsilleri," Tarih ve Toplum, no.102 (1992), pp. 30-36; no. 103 (1992), pp. 30-35; no. 104, (1992), pp. 26-33.

⁴³⁴ For the opera perfonnance Atatürk organized for the reception ceremoııy ofthe Iraııiaıı shah, see: Metin And, Başlangıcından 1983 'e Türk Tiyatro Tarihi, (İstanbul: İletişim, 2004), p. 157.

⁴³⁵ Metin And, Türk Tiyatrosu'nun Evreleri, (Ankara: Turhan Kitapevi,1983), p. 406.

ideologies.⁴³⁶ Brecht's The Good Person ofSzechwan, used in the debates between rightists and leftists, caused a violent polarization, and was banned by the govenunent in 1964. This decision inflaıned the rising opposition against the govenunent and gave birth to further upheavals. In another case, in the midst ofa peaked political milieu, the govenunent tried to stop the performance of the play Pir Sultan Abdal in 1969 in Tunceli. When the audience protested the govenunent, the police directly attacked the audience, leaving two people dead, eleven injured and eighty arrested during the demonstrations.⁴³⁷ Manifestations where the rightists, the leftists and the police forces fought frequently used theatre as a politically symbolic space in the !ate 1960s.⁴³⁸ It is possible to trace this trend of political theater in the 1970s with Haldun Taner's Devekuşu Kabare, Genco Erkal's Dostlar Tiyatrosu and Asaf Çiyiltepe's Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu to be followed in the 1980s by Ferhan Şensoy's Ortaoyuncular. Ali in ali, theatre became a part of the Ottoman/ Turkish social, cultural and political life from the !ate nineteenth century onwards, a subject­ matter Ottoman and Turkish historical research has to study more seriously.

This thesis intended to review theater as a political space in the !ate Ottoman politics, arguing that from its very start, it acquired a political signifıcance and became a 'political institution' through its incorporation in the imperial celebrations. This new modem artistic geme became, in a very short time, one of the most powerful means to disseminate the ideologies of the Ottoman intelligentsia,

⁴³⁶ And, Türk Tiyatrosunun Evreleri, pp. 378-381.

⁴³⁷ ibid., p. 462.

⁴³⁸ üne should also mention here another social aspect oftheatre ofthe 1960s, where unionist demonstrations and worker's strikes emerged as inıportant social expressive forms. TOTSİS (Türkiye Opera, Tiyatro ve Yardımcı İşler Sendikası) and Tİ-SEN (Türkiye Tiyatrocular Sendikası), the two inıportant theater unions of the 1960s were arnong the pioneering groups who organized three major strikes. ibid., p. 406.

negotiating between imperial oppression and an oppositional public opinion. The development oftheater into a public space reached its peak with the revolution of 1908 which created pageants through the banned plays of the old regime. The mass perfarmances indeed created a new market far the politicization of the repertoire and putting the old regime on trial on the stage. The post revolutionary theater staged the contemporary, and established a certain tradition of 'political theater', which then continued to be revived with other political events that Turkey experienced.

Although theater lost its political signifıcance in our daily lives and in our collective memories since the 1980s, it has been apart of the Turkish politics since l 900s.

Representing the political 'rites of passages'⁴³⁹ in its own satirical fashion popular theater did not only shape public opinion but alsa the historiographical discourses of its own era. A careful survey of theater can therefare offer a different perspective far the study of Ottoman modemization.

To conclude, I should perhaps acknowledge that this study could only analyze part ofa large corpus oftexts produced during the post-revolutionary era. The richness of these texts undoubtedly deserves a much more thorough textual analysis. A careful thematic review of these texts may provide us with clues on the rhetoric of popular culture during the Young Turk era. The Unionist terminology built upon the love of fatherland, the love of nation, freedom, justice, Ottomanism and constitutionalism through these scripts can offer altemative approaches to study the popular culture of the Young Turk era. I should add that a discussion of the theater's role in the political context of this era may be situated within a larger framework of other artistic genres. A survey on the development of the cinema, painting and music under the patronage ofthe CUP would certainly reveal the Unionist political agenda

⁴³⁹ Referring to Victor Turner, see: Victor Turner, "Liminality and Commuuitas," pp.79-88.

which encouraged the formation of an Unionist repertoire in different realms of popular art.