Musical Intimacy, Model Citizenship, and Sufism in the Life of Niyazi Sayın

Bibliographic Data

ID8966237
AuthorsBanu Senay (0000-0002-1064-5369, Macquarie University, corresponding author), C Houston (0000-0003-1398-0100, Macquarie University)
Year2022
Volume54
Issue2
Pages225-242
Publication date2022-03-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020743821001331
OpenAlexW4220891245
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

Niyazi Sayın is an Istanbul-born ney (reed flute) virtuoso, and the most acclaimed musician of a musical tradition controversially called “Ottoman-Turkish classical music.” Now 94 years old, Sayın has been called insan-i kamil (a perfect human), kutb-ı nayi, (the musical spiritual axis of his age), and hezarfen (master of a thousand arts). What do such titles mean? Building upon the work of Martin Stokes on popular music and its fashioning of intimate publics, this paper explores Sayın's musical life. We argue that it provides an exemplary expression of cultural intimacy for listeners and students, one that (as reflected in his titles) demonstrates a particular way of becoming a person, a Muslim, and a model citizen. In contrast with more official constructions of citizenship, as well as with the political neo-Ottomanism of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Sayın's life and music open up alternative possibilities of self-alteration for those who engage with it

Aesthetics · Art · Citizenship · Linguistics · Literature · Musical · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The arts · Turkish · Visual arts · Diverse Musicological Studies · Law · Music History and Culture · Philosophy · Turkey's Politics and Society

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