WOMEN’S LAMENTS AND MOURNING HYMNS: FUNERAL RITUALS OF TAHTACI COMMUNITIES IN THE AEGEAN REGION OF WESTERN TURKEY

Abstract

Societies establish the building blocks of life with their traditions, values, experiences and cultural heritage. The culture of each society reflects such vital values. Death, like birth is an important ritual of passage in the cycle of life. In the case of Tahtaci communities of Western Turkey, rituals associated with death include musical forms such as hymns and laments that are performed in free rhythm and with specific syllabic meters or syllable lines. Laments are improvised by women at the place of mourning, while the nefeses are performed in cem rituals and other ceremonies of Tahtaci communities. The lyrics of the nefeses are selected from well-known Alevi poets and sung to the accompaniment of instruments such as long-necked, plucked lutes (cura, bağlama, and divan saz), and the violin. The data of this study were collected through observation a structured interview method. Intensive research concerning funeral rituals and religious ceremonies was conducted for three years and five months in villages densely populated with Tahtacis, and interviews took place with individuals familiar with the repertoire and rituals associated with lamenting. Methodology: The research process or ethnography involved participant-observation and documentation of contexts for lamenting, lamenting as performance practice, and interviews that were compiled and analyzed on the basis of written observations, recordings, and transcriptions in the form of musical notation and lyrics. The data compiled in this study contributes to the dearth of publications concerning the data investigated. The results of the investigation illustrated that mourning hymns (yas nefesler) and women’s laments (ağıtlar) feature prominently in the oral traditions of Tahtacis.

Keywords

• tahtacis identity
• mourning hymns
• women’s laments
• agitlar and nefesses
• funeral rituals