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-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Center for Research in Festive Culture Seminar Announcement Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2005 17:12:15 -0500 From: Erin Lucido <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN FESTIVE CULTURE Seminar 3, Friday, April 22, 2:00-5:00 P.M. Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois A Festive Fool Changes His Clothes: Uses of “Nasreddin” in Turkish Festival and Iranian Political Agitation Graduate Students, Faculty, and the General Public are Cordially Invited to Attend At the third and final session of the spring 2005 Research Seminar in Festive Culture the following two papers will be discussed. The papers are available by e-mail to correspondents of the Center. Hakki Gurkas, PhD Candidate, Purdue University, presents “The Nasreddin Hodja Festival in Aksehir, Turkey, since 1959: The Trickster Becomes a Sage.” This paper examines how the folk figure—Nasreddin Hodja—has evolved from a trickster, a representative of the folk culture, to a philosopher, an agent of the elite urban culture. In line with this transformation the festival has evolved from a folk festival to an art festival where donkey races and greased wrestling have been replaced by caricature competitions and painting exhibitions. Since 1959, the festival has been a significant site for both local and national political agendas. On the one hand, it was used to voice the local grievances and political demands; on the other hand, it was one of the scenes where the national and cultural Turkish identity is constructed, negotiated, and promoted. Janet Afary, Associate Professor of History & Women's Studies, Purdue University, will present her paper “Turning the Trickster Figure from Performance to Politics: Nasreddin in Early Twentieth-Century Iran.” A richly ambiguous “wise fool” character called Nasreddin has figured for more than a thousand years in oral culture throughout the Middle East. This character is not, it seams, directly tied to festivities in Iran. But he is one of a series of fools and tricksters that has little to do with orthodox Islam. The stories that circulate about him evoke a festively invasive vision of the universe. He is similar to a clown figure who travels through towns and villages in the traditional Persian new year’s festival (Nowruz). This paper shows how Nasreddin was used in the early twentieth-century by a group of journalists and writers to subvert the existing social and political order. ========================================================== The seminar will devote 90-minute round-table discussions to each of these papers, with a brief coffee break between them. The papers will be briefly introduced, not read, by Gurkas and Afary. Please send your request for a copy of the papers to Erin Lucido, secretary of the seminar, at the Newberry Library ([log in to unmask]). Requested papers will be sent to your e-mail address. If you do not have an e-mail address, send your mailing address to Erin Lucido, Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610, or to me: Samuel Kinser, History Department, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115 ([log in to unmask]). Please call Renee Kerwin, Secretary, History Department, Northern Illinois University, for further information (815-753-6820). -- Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early English Drama/ Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 813-4093/ [log in to unmask] List-owner of REED-L <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre resource page http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page