A Study on the Authority of Arel Theory
Hüseyin Sadettin Arel, who is one of the leading actors and directors of the world of Turkish makam music, has created significant effects in his time and today with his scientific and artistic works in the field of music, publishing, education, management, system builder in the theory and teaching of Turkish makam music, and composer, and the Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek System, which he theorized, has become a subject of criticism and discussion. This article aims to analyze the continuity of Arel's theory, which constitutes an important turning point in the theory of Turkish makam music, in the fields of education and performance despite all the criticisms, within the framework of the factors related to the theoretical legitimacy ground and institutional structures that make this continuity possible. The scope of the study includes the analysis of the social and institutional mechanisms that ensure the continuity of this system, apart from the functionality of Arel theory.
In this direction, the music circle formed around Arel, called “Arelists”, was associated with the conceptual framework that corresponds to the “epistemic community” in the sociology of science. Descriptive analysis based on qualitative approach was preferred as the research method. The data obtained as a result of the literature review were evaluated using Warren Olaf Hagstrom's model of epistemic communities; it was analyzed how the interpersonal network established through the institutions where Arel worked, the journals he published and the students he trained maintained the power of Arel theory. As a result, it has been determined that the influence of Arel's theory today is based not only on its theoretical competence but also on the continuity of the scientific/epistemic community formed around it.
Arel Teorisinin İktidarı Üzerine Bir İnceleme
Türk makam müziği dünyasının başat aktörlerinden ve yönlendiricilerinden biri olan Hüseyin Sadettin Arel, müzik alanında gerçekleştirdiği bilimsel ve sanatsal çalışmaları, yayıncılığı, eğitimciliği, yöneticiliği, Türk makam müziği kuramı ve öğretiminde sistem kuruculuğu, besteciliği ile yaşadığı dönemde ve günümüzde önemli etkiler yaratmış, kuramcısı olduğu Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek Sistemi eleştiri ve tartışma konusu haline gelmiştir. Bu makale, Türk makam müziği kuramında önemli bir dönüm noktası teşkil eden Arel teorisinin, tüm eleştirilere rağmen eğitim-öğretim ve icra alanlarında günümüze dek devam eden sürekliliğini; bu sürekliliği mümkün kılan kuramsal meşruiyet zemini ve kurumsal yapılarla ilişkili etkenler çerçevesinde analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmanın kapsamı, Arel teorisinin işlevselliği dışında, bu sistemin sürekliliğini sağlayan sosyal ve kurumsal mekanizmaların analizini içermektedir. Bu doğrultuda, Arel’in etrafında oluşan “Arelciler” olarak adlandırılan müzik çevresi, bilim sosyolojisinde “epistemik cemaat” şeklinde karşılık bulan kavramsal çerçeveyle ilişkilendirilmiştir. Araştırma yöntemi olarak nitel yaklaşıma dayalı betimsel analiz tercih edilmiştir. Literatür taraması sonucunda elde edilen veriler, Warren Olaf Hagstrom’un epistemik cemaatlere ilişkin modelinden yararlanılarak değerlendirilmiş; Arel’in görev yaptığı kurumlar, yayımladığı dergiler ve yetiştirdiği öğrenciler üzerinden kurulan kişiler arası ağın, Arel teorisinin iktidarını nasıl sürdürdüğü analiz edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, Arel teorisinin günümüzdeki etkisinin yalnızca kuramsal yeterliliğine değil, çevresinde oluşan bilimsel/epistemik cemaatin devamlılığına dayandığı tespit edilmiştir.
This study has been written with the idea that 'the basic unit of analysis in social sciences is persons' and with the aim of finding the reasons for the ongoing power of Hüseyin Sadettin Arel, the theoretician of Arel's theory, in Turkish makam music. Because individuals are the cause and director of everything that happens in the social world. Hüseyin Sadettin Arel (1880-1955) witnessed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the innovation movements that took place in the establishment of the Republic. The issues faced by Turkish makam music in the process of the construction of the Turkish nation-state, which took place during his lifetime, could not escape being an instrument of efforts to legitimize or push it out of the sphere of legitimacy, and all these factors became an important determinant factor that shaped Arel's musical works. The power centers that shaped music policy after the Republican Era stated that the Turkish makam music tradition did not belong to the Turkish nation. In the face of this discourse, Arel defined the Turkish makam music tradition as 'our own national music' and argued that this music should be given a central place in the modern national culture of the future. In line with this aim, he aimed to modernize the theoretical foundations of Turkish makam music, standardize the sound system and ensure the transmission of Turkish makam music within a scientific framework. Hüseyin Sadettin Arel, although he was one of the main actors and guides in the world of Turkish makam music, was perhaps the musicologist who became the subject of the most criticism and debate with the Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek System he implemented. Despite the criticisms, the Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek System, which he theorized, is a structure that is still effectively implemented in music education and performance institutions, especially conservatories, foundations, associations and TRT. When the literature is examined, it seems possible to categorize the criticisms of Arel's theory under three main headings. These are the Main Scale-Cargâh maqam, the 24- part sound system and Makam Classification-Shad maqams. In addition to these, the association of Arel's theory with the concept of tonality belonging to western music can be given as another criticized title. The examination of the ongoing power of the Arel System, despite all the negative criticisms about it, in the maqam activity areas of Turkish maqam music, namely education-teaching and performance, has been tried to be explained through the concept of 'epistemic community' in the sociology of science, which is called 'Arelciler/Arel School', which constitutes Arel's musical environment. Epistemic, in the crudest terms, means that which is related to knowledge, and community means community. It is possible to briefly define the epistemic community as 'the community of knowledge-science'. In his sociology of science essay titled “Epistemic Community”, Hüsamettin Arslan defines the Epistemic/Scientific community as: “a social form of existence, a social and historical collectivity, without which knowledge cannot exist; where knowledge is constructed, processed, developed, accredited and passed on to future generations”. From Hüseyin Sadettin Arel's music educators to his own students, from the music institutions he worked in to the magazines he published, in short, it can be said that almost all the elements that make up Arel's musical environment are compatible with the concept of epistemic community. Sociologist Warren Olaf Hagstrom's six points on the channels of communication between the scientific/epistemic community within academic institutions were evaluated through the people and situations in Arel's musical circle, and it was seen that musicologists, composers and performers, called Arelists, were the main elements that ensured the power of Arel's theory. In particular, the education of Arel's theory through his students, defined as 'Arelists', who took part in the new conservatories to be established, which Arel explained as his 'ultimate goal', was effective in official music institutions and academic circles, thus reinforcing his authority and power in the music world and ensuring its continuity until today.
