Abstract
This chapter is based on the field research, which aims to examine the neo-Ottoman henna nights as a process of reinventing traditions and constructing authenticity and the gender roles they imply through a theoretical perspective based on Svetlana Boym’s conceptualizations of nostalgia. The fieldwork, which was conducted in Ankara, particularly in Hamamarkası, and Istanbul comprises observations in henna nights and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who had this experience as brides and owners of organisation companies. Additionally, online sources such as social media accounts and web sites of henna houses and organisation companies are used as secondary data. The chapter discusses the interconnections between cultural heritage, nostalgia, uses of history to understand how women perceive and experience this tradition and relate it to their sense of womanhood. Secondly, it addresses the new customs as products of the wedding industry in a neoliberal economic and political context.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
The information about the henna night tradition is gathered from the interviews, personal observation and experiences, and related studies in the field of folklore Turkey, which is very rich and diversified. For some examples, see Korkmaz (1999), Göde (2010), Taşkıran and Şar (2016), Karaca (2016), and Dülger (2019).
- 4.
For more detail on the transformation of the area and the recent nostalgia culture see Onur (2018).
- 5.
Interviews conducted in the period 08-11.2019. All interviewees’ names are anonymised.
- 6.
Ferfene is a tradition of winter public dinners where people exchange ideas, disseminate knowledge on a particular subject, sing folk songs, and dance. It is part of Ankara’s intangible cultural heritage.
- 7.
Acknowledging the differences in approaches to the usage of the terms Gypsy and Roma, I prefer to use Gypsy when it is used by the respondents and the henna organisers.
- 8.
Yalı, which literally means coast, is a specific, historical, architectural form of residence on the coastline of the Bosphorus built in the Ottoman era. A yalı is a two or three-storey building right beside the sea with a small garden and a small pier.
- 9.
Bindallı is the common name for traditional Turkish henna dresses or long jackets which are mostly made of velvet or satin and embroidered with gold or silver lace. The term literally means “with a thousand branches” because the decorations are mostly in flower, leaf, or branch patterns.
- 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KctSHOFo2ig, (03.08.2022).
- 11.
EurovisionFanTV (n.d.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJksu8XxZCo (15.10.2020).
The official video of the song was shot in a historic Turkish bath and Topkapı Palace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRAjf9rFA58 (15.10.2020). It was harshly criticised and first censored and then banned by the state television for the scenes associated with lesbianism and drug abuse.
- 12.
Sometimes the styling can go to extremes. The organiser at the Kalıpçızade mansion told me about a veiled bride, dressed by her mother early in the morning that summer, who fainted and was hospitalised at the end of the night because her kaftan and the layers of skirts underneath were too heavy and her stockings and scarves too tight.
- 13.
I would like to thank Kerem Öktem for his contribution of the concepts of playfulness and self-orientalism.
- 14.
She explained that in Alevi-Bektashi culture men and women come together in worship and entertainment.
- 15.
Mevlud or Mevlid is a poem written by Süleyman Çelebi who was an imam in Bursa in 1409. The poem narrates Prophet Muhammed’s life and it is recited on the day of the prophet’s birth (Mevlid Kandili) and other sacred days, for praying for a new-born baby’s health, at funerals and anniversaries of a loved one’s death, and other special occasions significant in a person’s life. (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi, Mevlid, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mevlid%2D%2Dsuleyman-celebi, (22.01.2021).
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Acknowledgment
This chapter is based on the research entitled “Yeni Osmanlı Kına Geceleri ve Saray Nostaljisi İçinde Kadınlar” (“New Ottoman Henna Nights and Women in Palace Nostalgia”), which received Sabancı University, Gender and Women’s Studies Center of Excellence, 2018 Şirin Tekeli Research Award. I am deeply grateful and honoured to receive this award.
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Onur, P. (2023). The New Ottoman Henna Nights and Women in the Palace of Nostalgia. In: Raudvere, C., Onur, P. (eds) Neo-Ottoman Imaginaries in Contemporary Turkey. Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08023-4_8
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