Teodor Kassab’s Adaption of the Ottoman Shadow Theatre Karagöz

Elmas, Elif

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-28607-0_11

Elif Elmas³

Part of the book series: Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context ((TRANSCULT))

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the satirical journal Hayal, published by the Ottoman journalist and publisher Teodor Kassab who grew up in a Greek-speaking environment. I particularly emphasise Kassab’s adaption of the so-called Karagöz, the traditional Ottoman shadow theatre, which has been a vehicle for oral social and political satire since the sixteenth century. Kassab made extensive use of this literary form in his satirical journal Hayal. He introduced the main protagonists of the shadow theatre, Hacivat and Karagöz, in the guise of ‘journalists’ into his satirical journal.

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Notes

1.
Orhan Koloğlu, Takvimi Vekayi, Türk Basınında 150 Yıl (1831–1981) (Ankara: Ankara Basım Sanayi, 1981), 1.
2.
See: Hamdi Özdiş, Osmanlı Mizah Basınında Batılılaşma ve Siyaset (1870–1877) (İstanbul: 2010); and Turgut Çeviker, Gelişim Sürecinde Türk Karikatürü—I Tanzimat ve İstibdat Dönemi (1867–1878/1878–1909) (Istanbul: Adam Yayıyınları, 1986).
3.
The Tanzimat (lit. reorganisation) era was a period of reformation that began in 1839 with the proclamation of the Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. See: Halil İnalcik, “Tanzimat Nedir?,” in Tanzimat, Değişim Sürecinde Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, ed. Halil İnalcik (Istanbul: Phoenix Yayınevi, 2006), 13–35.
4.
Çeviker, Gelişim, 24.
5.
Johann Strauß, “Notes on the First Satirical Journals in the Ottoman Empire,” in Amtsblatt, vilayet gazetesi und unabhängiges Journal: Die Anfänge der Presse im Nahen Osten, ed. Anja Pistor-Hatam, vol. 27 (Vienna: Lang, 2001), 121–138; 124.
6.
The transliteration of terms and names here is based primarily on Redhouse Yeni Türkçe-İngilizce Sözlük (Istanbul: Redhouse Press, 1968).
7.
The earliest caricature to evolve from a Muslim background was published in 1867 in the newspaper İstanbul. Çeviker, Gelişim, 17.
8.
Meğu appears from 1856 to 1874. Çeviker, Gelişim, 17.
9.
Çeviker, Gelişim, 35.
10.
Hıfzı Topuz, II. Mahmut’tan Holdinglere Türk Basın Tarihi (Istanbul: Remzi Kitabevi, 2003), 75.
11.
Strauß, “Notes,” 124.
12.
M. Nuri İnuğur, Basın ve Yayın Tarihi (Istanbul: Çağlayan Kitabevi, 1982), 243. In this context it is important to emphasise the interaction of the different communities in the Ottoman Empire. That the Muslim and non-Muslim publishers cooperated with each other was a most common practice in Istanbul. Christoph Herzog, “Die Entwicklung der türkisch-muslimischen Presse im Osmanischen Reich bis ca. 1875,” in Amtsblatt, vilayet gazetesi und unabhängiges Journal: Die Anfänge der Presse im Nahen Osten, ed. Anja Pistor-Hatam, vol. 27 (Vienna: Lang, 2001), 15–43; 20.
13.
Diyojen 1, 12 Teşrin-i sāni 1286/24 November, 1870.
14.
Diyojen was published in several languages such as French, Greek and Armenian. Strauß, “Notes,” 132. Diyojen started as a weekly satirical journal; its popularity soared so quickly that he began to publish it twice and later on three times a week. İz, “Kasap,” 681.
15.
Strauß, “Notes,” 133.
16.
“Çand mah dan beru fransızca ve rumca olarak neşr olunmakda olub”. Diyojen 1, 12 Teşrin-i sāni 1286/24 November 1870, 1.
17.
Diyojen 19, 13 Mayıs 1287/25 May 1871, 1.
18.
Biographical information on Ottoman journalists, with the exception of a few prominent ones, is often difficult to assemble. But there is some information about the founder of Diyojen. Teodor Kassab was a Karamanlı who was born in Kayseri in 1835 as the son of a Greek draper, Sarafim Kassaboğlu. Teodor Kassab was only 11 years old when he lost his father. He moved to his relatives in Istanbul (or to Izmir, according to İz), where he attended a Greek school. At the same time, he worked as an apprentice in a store run by a relative, where he met a French officer, a nephew of Alexandre Dumas (père), who was on his way back to France after the end of the Crimean War (1853–1856). Impressed by his intelligence, the French officer took Teodor Kassab with him and arranged for his further studies in Paris. Afterwards, Teodor started work as Dumas’ private secretary and accompanied him on various journeys across Europe. However, there is a lack of information about Teodor Kassab’s life and his journalistic activities in France. Because of the outbreak of the Franco-German War of 1870–1871, he had to leave France. After his return to Istanbul, he taught French at several schools. F. İz, “Kasap, Teodor,” in Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition (London: Brill, 1954), 681–82; 681. During his stay in Paris, he became acquainted with Namık Kemal (1840–1888), one of the most prominent Ottoman writers and poets of the nineteenth century. The latter was also a journalist and one of the early contributors to Diyojen. Çeviker, Gelişim, 99.
19.
Diyojen 19, 13 Mayıs 1287/25 May 1871, 1.
20.
Translation from Strauß, “Notes,” 132.
21.
Çeviker, Gelişim, 119.
22.
Ibid., 22; and Mehmet Zeki Pakalın, Sicil-i Osmanı Zeyli Son Devir Osmanlı Meşhurları Ansiklopedisi, vol. 18 (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2009), 44–46.
23.
Diyojen was closed after the appearance of the third issue for the first time. See: İhsan Sungu, “Teodor Kassab,” in Çeviker, Gelişim, 96.
24.
Ibid.
25.
Çıngıraklı tatar was also published in a French and Greek version. Strauß, “Notes,” 134.
26.
Çeviker, Gelişim, 123.
27.
Strauß, “Notes,” 134.
28.
Ibid.
29.
Ibid.
30.
The British Punch recognises itself as a kind of derivate of the French original because it also carries as a second title The London Charivari.
31.
Terakki 1, 10 Şaban 1287/5 November 1870, 1; Letaif-i Āsār 55, 22 Temmuz (July) 1872, 1; Hayal 72, 1 Haziran 1290/14 June 1874, 2; Geveze 1, 24 Temmuz 1291/5 August 1875, 1.
32.
İbret was founded by Aleksan Sarrafyan Efendi and first appeared under the name Kevkeb-i Şarkī in 27 Şaban 1286/1 December 1869. “İbret,” in Türk Dili Ve Edebiyatı Ansiklopedisi, ed. Ramazan Acun (İstanbul: Dergah Yayınları, 1982), 332–336; 332. Çeviker, Gelişim, 123; and Strauß, “Notes,” 130.
33.
Hayal 119, 13 Teşrin-i sāni 1290/25 November 1874, 2.
34.
In the fourth issue of Kahkaha there is a reprinted Punch caricature which appeared only a few months earlier in the London Charivari. Only the caption under the caricature differs from the original. Punch, 9 January 1875 and Kahkaha 4, 1 Nisan 1291/13 April 1875, 4.
35.
A caricature in the tenth issue of Letaif-i Āsār shows Mr Punch wearing the Ottoman fez. Letaif-i Āsār 10, 21 Kānun-i sāni 1290/2 February 1875, 83.
36.
Çaylak 117, Şubat 1292/24 April 1877, 4; and Punch, 2 December 1876.
37.
Marion H. Spielmann, The History of ‘Punch’ (London: Cassell & Co. Ltd., 1895), 2.
38.
Richard G. G. Price, A History of Punch (London: Collins, 1957), 27.
39.
Kassab published various contributions such as Tiyatro terakki ediyor (the theatre progresses), in Diyojen 76, no. 6, 12 Teşrin-i sāni 1287/24 November 1871, 2–3 or in Hayal 4, 31 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/12 January 1874, 1.
40.
See: Diyojen 98, 23 Şubat 1287/6 March 1872, 3–4.
41.
Hayal 58, 16 Nisan 1290/28 April 1874, 3–4.
42.
İz, “Kasap,” 682.
43.
The Turkish Ortaoyun can be compared with the Italian commedia dell’ arte but there are many more similarities to the Karagöz theatre. The main difference is that the Ortaoyun were performed by actors instead of puppets. Metin And, Karagöz: Turkish Shadow Theatre (Istanbul: Dost Yayınları, 1979), 12.
44.
Diyojen 168, 25 Teşrin-i sāni 1288/7 December 1872, 1–2; Hayal 85, 17 Temmuz 1290/29 July 1874, 1–3.
45.
Diyojen 95, 12 Şubat 1287/24 Februar 1871, 4; Diyojen 161, 09 Teşrin-i sāni 1287/9 November 1871, 2. Diyojen 165, 23 Teşrin-i sāni 1288/5 December 1872, 3.
46.
Çeviker, Gelişim, 120.
47.
Diyojen 34, 1 Temmuz 1287/13 July 1871, 4.
48.
Çaylak 18, 20 Mart 1293/30 March 1877, 3.
49.
Meddah 31, 22 Receb 1292/25 August 1875, 4.
50.
And, Karagöz, 21.
51.
Ibid.
52.
But how the shadow theatre reached Egypt is also not well documented. Shadow theatre was present in Egypt from the eleventh century. And, Karagöz, 25.
53.
Ibid.
54.
Ibid., 26.
55.
Ibid.
56.
Ibid., 33.
57.
Cevdet Kudret, Karagöz. I. Cilt, (Istanbul, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2004), 21.
58.
Kudret, Karagöz, 12. This legend also shows similarities to the story of the genesis of the Chinese shadow theatre. See: Ibid, 9.
59.
And, Karagöz, 68.
60.
Ibid, 67.
61.
Kudret, Karagöz, 33.
62.
And, Karagöz, 44.
63.
A form used by minstrels in folk music. Redhouse Yeni Türkçe-İngilizce Sözlük, 997.
64.
Kudret, Karagöz, 15.
65.
Fighting and beating were also elements of the ‘Punch and Judy show’. Mr Punch always had a reason for beating his wife. John McCormick and Benni Prastasik, Popular Puppet Theatre in Europe 1800–1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 140; and George Speaight, The History of the English Puppet Theatre (New York: John de Gaff, 1955), 184.
66.
And, Karagöz, 45.
67.
Ahmet Yaşar, Osmanlı Kahvehaneleri: Mekân, Sosyalleşme, İktidar (Istanbul: Kitap Yayıyınevi, 2009), 42.
68.
Yaşar, Osmanlı, 42.
69.
And, Karagöz, 65.
70.
Ibid., 84.
71.
Namık Kemal, one of Kassab’s close friends, intended to condemn Karagöz and the Ottoman improvisational theatre Ortaoyun. Kemal described these kinds of entertainments as ‘schools of immorality’ and ‘schools of scandal.’ One of the reasons for the upcoming unpopularity of Karagöz and Ortaoyun in the middle of the nineteenth century was also the developing Western style theatre. The Ottoman palace circles, state dignitaries and intellectuals, such as Namık Kemal, preferred the tiyatro-i nevi (the new theatre). The Ortaoyun is comparable with the shadow theatre Karagöz; one of the main differences is that the Ottoman improvisational theatre uses actors, and the shadow theatre utilises two-dimensional puppets. The Ortaoyun shared a similar fate as Karagöz in the nineteenth century and was transformed into a different kind of improvised theatre. And, Karagöz, 12.
72.
And, Karagöz, 85.
73.
İstikbal 195, 15 September 1876, 4.
74.
Diyojen 161, 9 Teşrin-i sāni 1288/21 November 1872, 2.
75.
Hayal 2, 14 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/26 October 1873, 1.
76.
Diyojen 164, 15 Teşrin-i sāni 1288/27 November 1872, 1–2.
77.
Hayal 58, 16 Nisan 1290/28 April 1874, 3–4.
78.
Kudret, Karagöz, 47.
79.
“This screen is a keepsake (yādigār) of Küşteri”. Hayal 1, 18 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/30 October 1873, 1.
80.
Hayal 1, 18 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/30 October 1873, 3.
81.
Ibid.
82.
On another occasion for example, in the seventeenth issue of Hayal, Hacivat and Karagöz have a conversation about Namık Kemal’s theatre play Zavallı Çocuk (poor child). In this dialogue Hacivat, who has seen the stage play in the theatre, describes the plot to Karagöz in their typical manner. Hayal 17, 19 Kānun-i evvel 1289/31 December 1873, 1.
83.
Hayal 4, 31 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/12 November 1873, 2–3.
84.
Hayal 71, 29 Mayıs 1290/10 June 1874, 2.
85.
Hacivat’s appearance is limited to the dialogues and the caricatures.
86.
There is evidence that the authors of Hayal were the writers of some of these letters to the editor. They are probably using this literary style to express their critique and at the same time to avoid punishment from the office of censorship. Hayal 222, 18 Teşrin-i sāni 1291/30 November 1875, 1–2.
87.
Hayal 97, 28 Ağustos 1290/9 September 1874, 3.
88.
Bernhard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), 181.
89.
Christoph Herzog, “Die Entwicklung der türkisch-muslimischen Presse im Osmanischen Reich bis ca. 1875,” in Aneignung und Selbstbehauptung: Antworten auf die europäische Expansion, ed. Dietmar Rothermund, (Munich: R. Oldenburg Verlag, 1999), 15–44; 35.
90.
Nişan Berberian, who was one of the most productive caricaturists during the period 1870–1877, worked as a caricaturist for several satirical journals in the Ottoman Empire. But very little is known about his life. See: Çeviker, Gelişim, 110.
91.
Literally: ‘It fits to your hands and feet’.
92.
Literally: ‘I’m down from whom?’.
93.
Hacivat: ‘Vay! Gazeteci olduk ha! Doğrusu eline ayağına yakışır ya! Deveye kazzazlık’. Karagöz: ‘Beğenmedin mi? Ben kimden aşağı kalırım? Güllü Agob Efendi türkce öğrenib perdeli ortaoyuna masal yazdıkdan sonra ben gazeteci olsam çok mu?’ See Hayal 6, 7 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/18 October 1873, 4. This muhavere of Hacivat and Karagöz found its way to Budapest. It was probably a source of inspiration for Karagöz puppeteers around 1886, who performed a play called Gazeteci (Journalist) which is based on the dialogical editorial of Hayal and the further caricatures of the 6th issue. Kudret, Karagöz III, 1183–1888.
94.
In the 58th issue of Kassab is a reference to Agob’s concession. Hayal 58, 16 Nisan 1290/28 April 1874, 1–2.
95.
In his first satirical journal, Diyojen, there are also numerous articles teasing Agob and his theatre, for example, in Diyojen 70, 13 Teşrin-i sāni 1287/25 November 1871, 2–3. Kassab continues using his satirical journal to ridicule his popular target Agob. In the twelfth issue of Hayal there is a very short contribution about some people who claim that Agob can wiggle his ears but he cannot believe this gossip. Hayal 12, 1 Kānun-i evvel 1289/13 December 1873, 4.
96.
Hayal 90, 3 Ağustos 1290/15 August 1874, 1–2; Hayal 9, 2 Teşrin-i sāni 1289/14 November 1873, 3.
97.
All translations by the author.
98.
Diyojen 168, 25. Teşrin-i sāni 1288/7 December 1872, 1–2; Hayal 85, 17 Temmuz 1290/29 July 1874, 1–3.
99.
Hayal 90, 3 Ağustos 1290/15 August 1874, 2.
100.
Greek Newspaper.
101.
In the 103rd issue of Hayal, Kassab publishes a contribution with the title müdafaa, which means defence. Basiret claims in his 1,326th issue, that the negative publicity of Hayal regarding the bad condition of Agob’s theatre building is not true. But Kassab argues that Basiret itself also writes about the bad situation of the theatre building. Hayal 103, 18 Eylül 1290/30 September 1874, 1–3.
102.
Çeviker, Karikatür, 130.
103.
Fanny Davis, Osmanlı Hanımı: 1718’den 1918’e Bir Toplumsal Tarih (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayıynları, 2009), 216.
104.
Kassab especially mocked imitation, not only in fashion but also in theatre and journalism. Hayal 1, 18 Teşrin-i evvel 1289/30 October 1873, 4.
105.
In the background of this caricature a chair is also pictured, which symbolises Western goods which were adopted in the Ottoman households.
106.
Hayal 130, 21 Kānun-i evvel 1290/2 January 1875, 2.
107.
Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982), 234.
108.
Ibid., 84.
109.
Hayal 130, 21 Kānun-i evvel 1290/2 January 1875, 2.
110.
Hayal 252, 22 Mayıs 1292/3 June 1876, 2.
111.
Hayal 278, 9 Ağustos 1292/21 August 1876, 1.
112.
Orhan Koloğlu, Türk Karikatrü Tarihi (Istanbul: Bileşim, 2005), 36.
113.
Hayal 368, 18 Haziran 1293/30 June 1877.
114.
İz, “Kasap,”681. The date of Kassab’s death has not been determined exactly. Pakalın claims that Kassab died in 1905. Pakalın, Sicil-i Osmanī, 46.
115.
Kudret, Karagöz, 47. Translated by the author.

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Seminar for Languages and Cultures of the Near East at Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Elif Elmas (Doctoral Candidate)

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Languages and Literature, Heidelberg University Department of Modern South Asian, Heidelberg, Germany
Hans Harder
Institute of Chinese Studies, Heidelberg University Institute of Chinese Studies, Heidelberg, Germany
Barbara Mittler

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Elmas, E. (2013). Teodor Kassab’s Adaption of the Ottoman Shadow Theatre Karagöz . In: Harder, H., Mittler, B. (eds) Asian Punches. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28607-0_11

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