James Baldwin’s “Somber Question” and “Befriending the Fallen” in Türkiye
Özge Özbek AkımanDeparting from the United States in 1948, James Baldwin (1924-1987) lived intermittently in Istanbul between 1961 and 1971. Baldwin’s Turkish experience comes into being through his friendship with the Turkish actor Engin Cezzar, whom Baldwin met in the late 1950s in New York City. Commissioned to write about racial relationships on a larger scale, including the Middle East and Africa, Baldwin began to travel in 1961. As he explored the colonized geography, he faced, in his words, a “somber question” about African Americans’ role inside and outside the United States in relation to civil rights struggles. Unable to handle the question, he flew to Turkey. Acknowledging Turkey as a beneficiary of American financial aid against Soviet influence, Baldwin was furiously critical of American claims to freedom and democracy. His stay in Istanbul marks the period in which Baldwin evaluates racism as a historical and global component of colonialism that goes beyond the civil rights struggles in the US. Substantially written in Istanbul, No Name in the Street reflects this broadscale critique. Additionally, our theater history bears Baldwin’s traces as he directed Düşenin Dostu, produced by the Sururi-Cezzar Theater. As an important chapter in Turkish theater, the production manifests Baldwin’s interest in the theater and the imprisonment theme. This essay examines the Baldwin–Turkey link with reference to No Name in the Street and the production of Düşenin Dostu. In addition to the traces preserved in the theater archives, what Baldwin left in Turkey was a critique that counters American triumphalism.
James Baldwin’in “Kasvetli Soru”su ve Türkiye’de “Düşenin Dostu” Olmak
Özge Özbek AkımanAfrikalı Amerikalı yazar James Baldwin (1924-1987), ırkçı baskıdan uzaklaşmak için 1948 yılından itibaren ülkesinden ayrılarak 1961-1971 yıllarını aralıklı olarak Türkiye’de geçirir. Baldwin’in Türkiye yaşantısı, 1950’li yılların sonunda New York City’de tiyatro çalışmaları sırasında tanıştığı oyuncu Engin Cezzar’la dostluğu sayesinde gerçekleşir. Baldwin, 1961 güzünde Orta Doğu ve Afrika’yı kapsayacak şekilde ırksal ilişkiler üzerine yazmak amacıyla seyahate çıkar. Sömürü coğrafyasını keşfettikçe, sivil haklar mücadelesi çerçevesinde Afrikalı Amerikalıların ABD içinde ve dünyada tarihsel rolünün ne olduğuna dair, kendi ifadesiyle, “kasvetli soru” ile karşılaşır. Bu soruyu o sırada cevaplayamaz ve İstanbul’a gelir. ABD’nin Soğuk Savaş siyaseti çerçevesinde ekonomik yardım yoluyla Sovyetler Birliği’nden uzak tutmak istediği coğrafyalardan biri olan ülkemizden baktığında Baldwin, demokratik bir ulus imajıyla pazarlanan Amerika ile siyahların deneyimlediği Amerika arasındaki çelişkiye işaret eder. Uzun süreli İstanbul ziyaretleri, Baldwin’in ırkçılık sorununu ABD’deki sivil haklar mücadelesinin ötesinde, sömürgeciliğin tarihsel ve küresel bir bileşeni olarak değerlendirmeye başladığı döneme rastlar. Büyük ölçüde Türkiye’deyken yazdığı No Name in the Street’te bu geniş ölçekli eleştiriyi ayrıntılı şekilde ortaya koyar. Ayrıca, Baldwin’in yurdumuzda bıraktığı izler tiyatro tarihimizde gizlidir. 1969-1970 sezonunda Baldwin’in yönettiği ve SururiCezzar Tiyatrosu tarafından sahnelenen Düşenin Dostu hem Türk tiyatro tarihi hem de Baldwin’in tiyatroyla ilişkisi ve tüm eserlerine sinmiş olan tutukluluk izleğini konu etmesi açısından önemli bir yere sahiptir. Bu makale, Baldwin ve Türkiye ilişkisini, No Name in the Street ve Düşenin Dostu eserleri çerçevesinde inceler. Tiyatro arşivlerinde korunan izin yanı sıra Baldwin, Türkiye’ye her koşulda kazanmaya güdümlü Amerikan politikasına karşı çıkan bir bakış açısını da miras olarak bırakmıştır.
Departing from the United States in 1948, James Baldwin (1924-1987) lived predominantly in France and Turkey, staying in Istanbul intermittently between 1961 and 1971. Due to his alienation and constant mobility, Baldwin called himself a “Transatlantic commuter,” instead of an exile. Baldwin’s Turkish experience is occasioned by his close friendship with the Turkish actor Engin Cezzar, whom Baldwin met in the late 1950s in the Actor’s Studio in New York City as they worked together on the dramatic adaptation of Giovanni’s Room. Cezzar returned to Istanbul for a short summer vacation, which unexpectedly turned out to be a lifelong commitment to Turkish theater. The two friends remained in touch, informing each other about their work and future projects, and Cezzar invited Baldwin to Istanbul. In the fall of 1961, the New Yorker commissioned Baldwin, as the acclaimed Black writer in America, to write on racial relationships on a larger scale, including the Middle East and Africa. Thus, Baldwin travelled East. As he stated in a letter to his editor, Baldwin felt he was encountering a “somber question” about the historical role of African Americans during the civil rights struggle in the US. Unable to handle that question, he flew to Turkey, chancing upon Cezzar’s engagement with the actress Gülriz Sururi which they were celebrating with a circle of avantgarde artists. This circle welcomed Baldwin, allowing him freedom from the American type of racism and media attention, so much so that Baldwin enjoyed a prolific decade. He finished writing From Another Country and composed much of No Name in the Street. Furthermore, he collaborated with the Gülriz Sururi–Engin Cezzar Theater in producing a translation of the Canadian playwright John Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes [Düşenin Dostu], which was already radical in terms of subject matter in Western countries, but even more controversial in a Muslim country that was experiencing its own struggles with democracy, secularism, and liberation.
Neither Istanbul appears in Baldwin’s published work nor is there any evidence of his interest in Turkish culture or language. Nevertheless, Baldwin’s observations of American containment policy, i.e., providing “strategically important” countries with financial aid to gain political manoeuvre against Soviet influence, as seen from one such country, led Baldwin to scrutinize American claims of freedom and democracy. No Name in the Street manifests his critical understanding of racism as a historical and global component of colonialism that goes beyond the civil rights struggles in the US; an internationalism he developed in Turkey. In this work, Baldwin defines the nuanced processes of the racism-colonialism matrix, meditating on the colonized Arab and African subjects in different geographies, such as France and the United States, but the lives of whom fail to matter in similar ways. The striking difference between Baldwin’s attitudes reflected in the documentary films, both dated 1970, Going to Meet the Man: James Baldwin in Paris, directed by Terence Dixon, and James Baldwin: From Another Place, directed by Sedat Pakay, is worth noting. Annoyed by Dixon’s blind insistence to capture him in famous Paris settings, Baldwin is most amiable when he is filmed in the Algerian quarter. On the other hand, Pakay’s documentary traces Baldwin from the moment he wakes up to his stroll in Istanbul, revealing the handsome visual archive of the artist and the city. It is true that Turkish culture remained opaque for Baldwin; however, the mutual understanding between him and the Turkish artistic scene, and Istanbul’s aura as a city of empires shaped by defeats as well as victories led him to believe that there was a potential in Turkish society in fulfilling an extraordinary postcolonial role by continuing to exist as the remains of an empire without yearning to become one. Sketchy it may be, such an assumption rests on an implied comparison with the American empire, which, in Baldwin’s view, solves its problems by brutally eliminating them and fails to deal with defeat.
Complementing the previous proposition about defeat, conveniently translated into Turkish to mean “The Friend of the Fallen,” Herbert’s play, Fortune and Men’s Eyes proved to be a metaphor for Baldwin’s lifelong engagement with imprisonment, the criminalization of African American subjects, and the tyrannical use of power. The event of the play’s production not only marks an important chapter in Turkish theater history but also manifests Baldwin’s interest in the theater and the imprisonment theme. This essay examines the Baldwin–Turkey link with reference to No Name in the Street and the Turkish production of Fortune and Men’s Eyes and further argues that Baldwin’s legacy in Turkey can be understood in the form of a call to “befriend the fallen,” a critique that counters American power and triumphalism.
