ANYBODY WHO DOESN’T KNOW KARAGÖZ?

Of course not. Everybody knows Karagöz.
That we think we know it, prevents us from learning, so should we move these obstacles a little bit aside?

Early depictions of Karagöz date back to 400 b.c. and are found in Pazyryk Mountains
Which are a part of Altay Mountains, the homeland of Kayı tribe. Since 700 years, the shadow play and Karagöz are thought to be identical and after 19. century, our shadow play
came to be called  Karagöz.

The duplicates of Karagöz are called depictions(interesting). Let’s take a look at these
Depictions and depict :)

Karagöz:
                1- The dominant colour of his costume is red. That  our elusive Karagöz jumps
                     into the conflicts rightaway, acts without thinking first, talks without considering
                     may be due to the enthusiasm of the red. Well, it suits him only good 
                2- His hat is called ‘’ışkırlak’’, has a model of the sun on top of it,can be opened and closed,
                     falls if necessary revealing his bold head , is a kind of laughing element. 
                     Its spinoff is the falling of the ‘’kavuk’’ in Ortaoyunu.
                3- Has a thick  beard
                4- His shoes have thud tips,
                5- Carries around a pouch, but the contents of the pouch are unknown to me.
                6- Has huge black eyes, or is he foolhardy?
                7- Has one hand under his chin in  a fist while the other is free to slap at any time.
                8- Has a rough voice (It was nice to guess his voice from the costume)
                9- Has no education
              10- is very clever.

Hacivat:
                1- Because he’s a pilgrim, the dominant colour of his costume is green
                2- Has a pointed hat with dalyasan so we can understand that he belongs to the protocol.
                3- Has pointed beard,
                4- His shoes have pointed tips.
                5- Carries a pouch around his waist
                6- Glances softly
                7- Has both hands in fists under his chin,are his fists his chin?
                8- Uses his voice well. 
                9- Is well-educated
              10- His name comes from Hacı İvaz (pilgrim ivaz), ivaz means price.
              11- He’s very smart.

To sum up, Hacivat is the pared version of Karagöz and they have opposite characters, they’re best pals in spite of their constant fighting.
The dominant colours of their costumes,gren and red, are the most striking combination of two colours which contrast and emphasize each other, just like Hacivat and Karagöz.

If something does not go our way, we use the exclamation ‘’hay allah’’( it’s meaning is smilar to”what God has said,will happen”) Hacivat uses
This phrase as ‘’hay hak’’, just with a slight alteration in that he uses it at the beginning of the play(hm.. interesting!)

The mission of the Karagöz play is to rebel against political and social pressure:
It uses the satire as its weapon, tells the corrupt lives of men and the unjustice of
The authority with thoughtful jokes, fights against the evil and makes people see
What is right.

Let’s take a look at our deeds upon Karagöz, which is with us since 2400 years, which we declare proudly as our traditional art, which opens our eyes, which tells us about ourselves, which tells our troubles to the government facing the death penalty,
Which is known to us and deeply loved by us, which is our friend

1- we reduced it to a mere child’s play and left it there.
2- We obliged it just with one month of the year
3- By not modernizing its language, we left it incomprehensible.
4- We didn’t write any new plays which adopt its way of thinking (the last one is written in 1968 by Aziz Nesin)
5- We never showed an effort to learn depiction cuttuing.
6- We left it to be toyed around by those who even don’t know its way of thinking.

Besides, what is happening to this neighbour anyway? Karagöz is ours and
Will stay ours!

Here is the curtain  ‘’gazel’’( a style of poetry)
Of  üç karagöz oyunu (three karagöz plays), written by Aziz Nesin, which won the first
Prize in 1968 karacan awards of milliyet gazetesi (newspaper)

This square is something else, is the square of şeyh küşteri
Don’think  it’s a client’s place to purchase votes
Our curtain is not made of nylon, but of modesty and honour,
The voice which speaks within us is the voice of the crowd.

Many lessons shall be taken from our stories,
For petrified brains are their own prisons.

We may say funny words but say it truly,
Whoever takes it personally, is stony.

Thank you karagöz, thank you neyzen tevfik, thank you aziz nesin, thank you oğuz aral
Thank you ferhan şensoy and many more thanks to everyone who shared the responsibility

Asuman Sübay