Köçek

Not to be confused with Čoček.

"Köçek with a tambourine", Photograph late 19th century.

The köçek phenomenon (plural köçekler in Turkish, called γιουσουφάκι in Greek ) is one of the significant features of Ottoman Empire culture. The köçek was typically a very handsome young male rakkas, "dancer", usually cross-dressed in feminine attire, employed as an entertainer.

Roots

The Turkish word is derived from the Persian word kuchak, "little", "small", or "young" which itself is the Persian pronunciation of the Turkish word küçük, "little".

The culture of the köçek, which flourished from the 17th to the 19th century, had its origin in the customs in Ottoman palaces, and in particular in the harems. Its genres enriched both the music and the dance of the Ottomans.^{[citation needed]}

The support of the Sultans was a key factor in its development, as the early stages of the art form was confined to palace circles.^{[citation needed]} From there the practice dispersed throughout Anatolia and the Balkans by means of independent troupes.^{[citation needed]}

Culture

"Köçek troupe at a fair" at Sultan Ahmed's 1720 celebration of his son's circumcision. Miniature from the Surname-i Vehbi, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul.

A köçek would begin training around the age of seven or eight and would be considered accomplished after about six years of study and practice. A dancer's career would last as long as he was beardless and retained his youthful appearance.

They were recruited from among the ranks of the non-Muslim subject nations of the Turkish empire, such as Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Roma and others. They were boys taken from their homes via the Turkish practice of blood tax. Their erotic dances, collectively known as köçek oyunu, blended Arab, Greek, Assyrian and Kurdish elements. They were performed to a particular genre of music known as köçekce, which was performed in the form of suites in a given melody. It too was a mix of Sufi, Balkan and classical Anatolian influences, some of which survives in popular Turkish music today. The accompaniment included various percussion instruments, such as the davul-köçek, the davul being a large drum, one side covered with goat skin and the other in sheep skin, producing different tones. A köçek's skill would be judged not only on his dancing abilities but also on his proficiency with percussion instruments, especially a type of castagnette known as the çarpare.^{[citation needed]} The dancers were accompanied by an orchestra, featuring four to five each kaba kemence and lauto as principal instruments, used exclusively for köçek suites.^{[citation needed]} There were also two singers. A köçek dance in the Ottoman seraglio (palace harem) involved one or two dozen köçeks and many musicians.^{[citation needed]} The occasions of their performances were wedding or circumcision celebrations, feasts and festivals, as well as the pleasure of the sultans and the aristocracy.

Köçek posing in costume, Photograph late 19th century.

The youths, often wearing heavy makeup, would curl their hair and wear it in long tresses under a small black or red velvet hat decorated with coins, jewels and gold. Their usual garb consisted of a tiny red embroidered velvet jacket with a gold-embroidered silk shirt, shalvars (baggy trousers), a long skirt and a gilt belt, knotted at the back. They were said to be "sensuous, attractive, effeminate", and their dancing "sexually provocative". Dancers minced and gyrated their hips in slow vertical and horizontal figure eights, rhythmically snapping their fingers and making suggestive gestures. Often acrobatics, tumbling and mock wrestling were part of the act. The köçeks were available sexually, often to the highest bidder, in the passive role.

The names and backgrounds of köçeks in Istanbul in the 18th century are well documented.^{[citation needed]} Among the more celebrated köçeks from the end of the 18th century are the Gypsy Benli Ali of Dimetoka (modern Greece); Büyük (big, older) Afet (born Yorgaki) of Croatian origin, Küçük (little) Afet (born Kaspar) of Armenian origin, and Pandeli from the Greek island of Chios. There were at least 50 köçeks of star stature at the time. The famous ones, like the Gypsy köçek Ismail, would have to be booked weeks or months in advance, at a very high cost.^{[citation needed]}

Famous poets, such as Fazyl bin Tahir Enderuni, wrote poems, and classical composers, such as the court musician Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi (1778–1846), composed köçekces for celebrated köçeks. Many Istanbul meyhanes (nighttime taverns serving meze, raki or wine) hired köçeks. Before starting their performance, the köçek danced among the spectators, to make them more excited. In the audience, competition for their attention often caused commotions and altercations. Men would go wild, breaking their glasses, shouting themselves voiceless, or fighting and sometimes killing each other vying for the boys' sexual favors. This resulted in suppression of the practice under Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I.^{[citation needed]}

As of 1805, there were approximately 600 Köçek dancers working in the taverns of Turkey's capital. They were outlawed in 1837 due to fighting among audience members over the dancers. With the suppression of harem culture under Sultan `Abdu'l-`Aziz (1861–1876) and Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876–1908), köçek dance and music lost the support of its imperial patrons and gradually disappeared.

Köçeks were much more sought after than the Çengi ("belly dancers"), their female counterparts. Some youths were known to have been killed by the Çengi, who were extremely jealous of men's attention toward the boys.

Modern offshoots

Though no new compositions or performances have taken place in the last hundred years, male dancers dressed as women still perform in some areas of Turkey, though their art is no longer primarily of a sensual nature and is seen primarily as folkloric.^{[citation needed]}

A modern interpretation is the movie Kocek (Küçük cadi 1975) by director Nejat Saydam. It is probably the first Turkish movie to deal with the topic of homosexuality and change of gender role.

A contemporary form of the Kocek culture has been brought down to today in many Middle Eastern countries, Bacha Bazi is active and mirrors the Kocek tradition exactly. A full video was shown on frontline and can be viewed at PBS.

See also

• Bacha Bazi
• Culture of the Ottoman Empire
• Ghilman
• Harem
• LGBT topics and Islam
• List of transgender-related topics
• Ottoman Turkish language
• Tellak

Bibliography

• AYVERDI, Sâmiha; Istanbul Geceleri The nights of Istanbul, ed. Baha, Istanbul, 1977.
• ENDERUNLU Fazıl bey; Çenginame', 1759
• Erdoğan, Sema Nilgün: Sexual life in Ottoman Empire, ed. Dönence, Istanbul, 1996. p. 88–92
• JANSSEN, Thijs: Transvestites and Transsexuals in Turkey, in Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies, edited by Arno Schmidt and Jehoeda Sofer, ed. Harrington Park Press, New York, 1992
• KOCU, Resad Ekrem, Eski Istanbul'da Meyhaneler ve Meyhane Kocekleri, Istanbul Ansiklopedisi Notlari No
• OZTUNA, Yılmaz: Turk Musikisi Ansiklopedisi, Milli Egitim Basimevi, Istanbul, 1976. p. 23

External links

• Music, Identity, Gender: Çengis, Köçeks, Çöçeks. By Prof. Ş. Şehvar Beşiroğlu
• Turkish Cultural Foundation: Court dance in the Ottoman Empire
• Köçek (Dancing Boy) - Homosexual Art of Turkey
• A Question of Köçek - Men in Skirts, Belly Dancer's Mind
• Gender and Gaze in Kocek, by Cetin Sarikartal (An analysis of the film Kocek)