[Bilimsel Haber] Conf: "Reception Processes of Alevi Ritual Practice Between Innovation and Reconstruction" University of Heidelberg, Germany - October 30-31, 2007

[Onur Inal]

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

"Reception Processes of Alevi Ritual Practice Between Innovation and
Reconstruction" University of Heidelberg, Germany - October 30-31, 2007

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Dear Colleagues,

the research project on "Ritual transfer among marginalized religious
groups in Islamic societies of the Near East and in the Diaspora", that
is working within the collaborative research centre SFB 619 "Dynamics of
Ritual" at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, is holding an
international conference on "Reception Processes of Alevi Ritual
Practice Between Innovation and Reconstruction" on October 30-31, 2007,
to discuss the different kinds of transmission in the Alevi religion,
especially focused on transmission of ritual practice. The contributions
will cover topics such as oral tradition vs. written tradition,
transmission by the means of music or dance, the influence of modern
media or case studies on certain Alevi groups/families.

Please find below the conference program and further information. The
attendance is open for the academic community. Pre-registration is
requied - please write a short message to the following adresses:
janina.karolewski at ori.uni-heidelberg.de or
robert.langer at ori.uni-heidelberg.de.

Best regards,

Michael Ursinus, Janina Karolewski, Robert Langer

Seminar für Sprachen und Kulturen des Vorderen Orients Universitaet
Heidelberg Sandgasse 7 D - 69117 Heidelberg

 <http://islamwissenschaft.uni-hd.de/english/c7.html>
http://islamwissenschaft.uni-hd.de/english/c7.html

 <outbind://138/www.ritualdynamik.uni-hd.de> www.ritualdynamik.uni-hd.de

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TITLE:

"Reception Processes of Alevi Ritual Practice Between Innovation and
Reconstruction"

LOCATION:

The Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg (IWH) Hauptstrasse 242
D-69117 Heidelberg  <outbind://138/www.iwh.uni-hd.de> www.iwh.uni-hd.de

DATE:

Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - Wednesday, October 31, 2007

PROGRAM:

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

9:30 am - 9:45 am

Welcome Adress

(Michael Ursinus, Heidelberg)

9:45 am - 10:15 am

Dynamics of Ritual: Reflections on a Collaborative Undertaking (Frank
Neubert, Heidelberg)

10:15 am - 10:45 am

Locations(s) of Commemoration in Alevi Culture

(Beatrice Hendrich, Giessen)

11:00 am - 11:45 am

Orality, Literacy and Textual Authority Amongst the Yezidis (Christine
Allison, Exeter)

11:45 am - 12:30 am

Ritual Criticism and the Alevi Cem

(Hege Irene Markussen, Lund)

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm

Ayin-i Cem in the Traditional Alevi Society: The Ritual as a Microcosm
of the Community and Its Dialogue With the Text (Riza Yilidim, Ankara)

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm

Buyruk-Schriften und alevitische Identitaet: Die Besonderheiten der
Tahtaci (Fuat Bozkurt, Antalya)

3:45 pm - 4:30 pm

Documents in the Private Archives of Dede Families and Their Potential
to Shed Light on Important Aspects of Alevi History (Ayfer Stump,
Harvard)

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Ritual Practice in the Anatolian Village of Bicir: Written and Oral
Tradition

On the Written Tradition of Ritual in Bicir Koyu: Manuscripts from the
1950s (Janina Karolewski, Heidelberg)

The Oral History of Bicir Koyu as a Source of Alevi Ritual Practice
(Robert Langer, Heidelberg & Hasan Ogutcu, Meersdorf)

 

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

9:30 am - 10:15 am

The Role of Female Minstrels in the Transmission of Alevi Ritual

Knowledge: Two Ashiks from Kisas

(Hande Birkalan-Gedik, Istanbul)

10:15 am - 11:00 am

Rekonstruktion des Alevitentums zwischen ethnischen und sprachlicnen

Grenzen: Das Beispiel Varto

(Erdogan Gedik, Frankfurt a.M.)

11:15 am - 12:00 pm

Speaking About Rituals: (Re)invention of the Ayin-i Cem in Alevi Online
Discussion Forums (Johannes Zimmermann, Heidelberg)

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm

The Relations Between the Principles of Sufism and Alevi-Bektashi
Rituals According to the Early Sufi Manuscripts (Mufit Yuksel, Istanbul)

 

about 3:00 pm

Meeting of the international work group "Alevi Manuscripts"

CONCEPTION OF THE CONFERENCE:

At the planned conference, the reception processes of Alevi ritual
practice shall be examined under those aspects central to the studies of
the SFB 619 "Dynamics of Ritual" subproject that is located at the
Institute of Islamic Studies, subunit Ottoman Studies. These aspects
include those of ritual theory that serve to analyze evident changes of
ritual practice in a systematic way. Amongst the precise results of
ritual-dynamical processes we mainly differentiate between 'innovation'
and 'reconstruction', e.g. the modification of the ritual structure (see
ogreti cemi compared to gorgu cemi) or the decrease in importance of the
religious specialists (see dedes working as mere employees in cultural
associations). In this context one also has to mention 'ritual
reflexivity' and 'recursivity'. The ritual can be the stimulus for the
participants to self-reflect and it can itself become the subject of a
reflective examination. Referring to formerly existing ritual traditions
(e. g. the gorgu cemi within the pre-modern rural context) or to a
handed-own myth of the original ritual (see the myth of the kirklar

cemi) is one of the most applied forms of ritual reconstruction. Of
course those aspects can also be proved historically, although this fact
is often forgotten within the group's ritual reflexion. Thus, the
borrowing of ritual practice from other religious and/or social
traditions and cultures (e. g. the ritual-relevant hymns of Shah Ismail)
once constituted 'innovations' or 'inventions' which in our days are not
necessarily recognized/reflected anymore as former foreign influences.
Apart from this the aspect of the transmission of ritual practice shall
be brought up which in Alevism is above all dominated by the combination
of orality and mimesis, and less by literality. In modern times, this
way of handing down has been influenced tremendously by various factors
(the formation of the Republic of Turkey, the script reform,
urbanization, migration, etc.), so that it has changed fundamentally.
The mimetic practice to learn ritual performances by visual perception,
imitation and repeated exercise during the active and passive
involvement in the ritual event has become less important because of the
low degree of participation in the already less frequently performed
rituals. Furthermore it has to be assumed that personal oral
transmission of ritual texts and courses (e. g. briefings by the dede or
collectively conducted muhabbet) has already been replaced by a
depersonalized written way of impartation (e. g. handbooks on ritual).
In this context the written fixation of matters relevant to rituals
before the modern developments (e. g. in so-called buyruk texts) seems
as interesting to us as today's publication of text books on ritual
practice (e. g. Dervis Tur's "Erkanname" or Mehmet Yaman's "Alevilikte
Cem"). So it should be asked in how far one can speak of a continuation
of written tradition in this case and to what extent literality within
the religious context was subject to change (from sacral writings to
factual prescriptive texts). Further questions might be: Which role
plays orality and mimesis in the current transmission of ritual
practice? By which sorts of texts and by which writings has written
tradition been influenced (e. g. divan poetry, Sufi literature, Quran)?
Here, another aspect ties in, namely that of the influence from other
religious and/or social movements, cultures or traditions and their
ritual practice. Those influences shall be examined in detail from a
historical point of view. For the development of Alevi ritual practice
since the 16th century the connection to rituals of the following
religious/social communities and movements comes up as a question:
Safawiyya, Isma'iliyya, Ithna-'ashariyya and Bektashiyye, but also
Tasawwuf, Christianity, Shamanism and the Zaza or the Kurdish culture
and traditions. At the present time, the transfer of ritual traditions
into other social contexts (e. g. the individualized society of large

cities) or into other religious contexts (e. g. surroundings dominated
by Sunni Islam or Christianity) plays an important role. The migration
within Turkey that happens most frequently from the former rural
settlement areas of the Alevis to the larger cities has to be taken into
consideration as well as the migration to western countries. As to a
broad analysis of the reception processes of Alevi ritual practice both
the division into 'innovation' and 'reconstruction' and the discussion
about transmission or external influences seem necessary to us. Thus, we
hope the conference provide the opportunity to combine those different
aspects in order to examine the ritual practice in Alevism from a
broader point of view.

 

 
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