Articulating Otherness in the Construction of Alevi-Bektashi Rituals and Ritual Space in Transnational Perspective

Articulating Otherness in the Construction of Alevi-Bektashi Rituals and Ritual Space in Transnational Perspective.

Drawing from extensive ethnographic research conducted in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Canada, this presentation sheds light on the persistence of Turkish Alevi-Bektashi, and, to a lesser extent, Bulgarian Alevi-oriented spirituality, identity, devotional assemblies, and ritual spaces in a changing sociopolitical climate. The analysis will utilize aspects of a multidisciplinary spatial methodology to analyze the poetics and politics of sacred space and seeks to decode the dynamics of hierarchical situatedness and symbolic, performative gestures of ritual participants within such spaces. The discussion will also draw special attention to the prominence of poetic-musical expression in rituals as performed on the sacred folk lute known as bağlama or saz by ritual music specialists who accompany sacred movement (semah) and sing mystical poetry (nefes, deyiş) that elucidates esoteric teachings and theological beliefs, reinforces knowledge of religious lineage and primary saints and poets, and reaffirms values and ethics.  

Dr. Irene Markoff (PhD, University of Washington) is an ethnomusicologist and performer who teaches music studies courses and performance at York University where she also contributes to the Graduate Programs in Music, Anthropology, and Interdisciplinary Studies. Her research interests involve aspects of traditional and popular music of Bulgaria and Turkey in addition to Islamic mysticism as reflected in her many publications concerning the music, rituals and expressive culture of the Sufi/Shiʿi-related Alevi-Bektashi religious minority in Turkey, Canada, and Bulgaria. Irene was a contributor to,  and consulting editor for the Garland Encyclopedia of Music’s Middle East Volume and she is currently co-chair of the Sacred and Spiritual Sounds and Practices Study Group of the International Council for Traditional Music.