Religious Music Today as a Tool of the Secular Movement
Ali DündarThis study examines the status of religious music performances and activities that are important in Turkish-Islamic culture and tradition in the context of secularisation. People’s religious feelings are satisfied and enlivened through religious music performances and activities. However, these activities, which are drawn to an area devoid of space and emotion, lose their lyrical significance and are transformed into a tool for obtaining worldly desires. In secularism, societal and individual behaviours should be evaluated in two ways. In this study, the behaviours of those who engage in religious music activities to gain worldly interests by removing them from their place and emotion are evaluated as secularism. In contrast, the behaviours of those who participate in the activities are classified as desecularism due to their involvement in the practice of the supernatural in their daily lives. As a result of secularist behaviour and attitude, the field of religious music begins to lose its meaning and unique value due to its use as a worldly tool.
Seküler Akımın Bir Aracı Olarak Günümüzde Dini Müzik
Ali DündarBu çalışma, Türk- İslam kültür ve geleneğinde önemli bir konuma sahip olan dini musiki icra ve faaliyetlerinin toplumsal algı ve inanç boyutunun değişmesiyle pratik hayattaki durumunu sekülerizm bağlamında ele almaktadır. Dini musiki icra ve faaliyetleri insanların dini duygularını tatmin ve tezyin etmek amacıyla uygulanmaktadır. Ancak mekânından ve duygusundan yoksun bir alana çekilen bu faaliyetler, içerdiği irfani mana değerini kaybederek dünyevi çıkarların elde edilmesi için bir araç haline getirilmektedir. Bahse konu olan faaliyetleri icra eden toplum ve bireyin davranışları sekülerizm bağlamında iki yönlü olarak değerlendirilmelidir. Bu çalışmada dini musiki faaliyetlerini mekânından ve duygusundan uzaklaştırarak dünyevi çıkar elde etmek amacıyla faaliyetleri gerçekleştirenlerin bu davranışları sekülerizm, faaliyete katılanların gündelik yaşam pratikleri içerisinde doğaüstü alana ait uygulamaya katılmaları sebebiyle de sekülerizm olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak dini musiki alanı sekülerist davranış ve tutum neticesinde dünyevi bir araç olarak kullanılmasından dolayı anlam ve özgünlük değerini kaybetmeye başlamaktadır.
Culture is one of the most important phenomena that brings people together while also introducing privilege and difference into society. The culture contains all of the society’s religious, moral, aesthetic, psychological and sociological dynamics. Undoubtedly, music culture is an important field that reflects societal dynamics. Each culture has had a distinct music culture. One can find traces of many aspects of society’s life in this music culture. Music culture, which has an inclusive aspect that affects the entire society, has begun to change and transform in tandem with the change and transformation of societal dynamics over time. Today, the effects of the capitalist system, such as globalisation and the cultural industry, have created a new commercial area by influencing the field of music.
The transformation of cultural elements, particularly music, into material commodities has altered people’s perceptions of musical aesthetics. The degree of aesthetic concern and compliance with the understanding of art determines the importance of art. Society can improve its aesthetic understanding by adapting to the existing high level of art knowledge. When art is reduced to society, situations such as loss of meaning in music may arise. At this point, music has been transformed into a commodity and marketed as a commercial product. According to Adorno, the musician is now a businessman. Not the music he performs with artistic concerns, but the music he performs to satisfy societal tastes and earn a financial return, has gained meaning.
Sociology, a branch of science that studies societal behaviour, attempts to explain why people’s behaviour changes over time in specific situations. When we consider music practices as a behaviour, they fall under the purview of sociology. This field, known as music sociology, studies both the effects of music on society and the effects of society on music.
Religious music plays an important role in the Turkish-Islamic tradition, both religiously and culturally. Its inclusive role in practical life elevates it to an important position. People’s religious feelings are satisfied and enhanced through religious music performances and activities. These practices have become customary and have been applied for specific purposes at various points in history. Because of their effective social role, performances and activities can now be used for specific purposes. Performances and activities drawn to an area devoid of space and emotion lose their lyrical meaning and become a tool for acquiring worldly interests.
In this study, the behaviours of society and individuals performing these activities are evaluated in two ways within the context of secularism. First, we look at the behaviours of those who engage in the activities in question. Secularism is defined as the reduction of supernatural beliefs and practices among individuals and societies in a given time and place. First, it is observed that members of the group in question engage in supernatural practices. They participated in or preferred to participate in activities that satisfied and enhanced their religious feelings and thoughts. When it is considered that they do not expect any worldly benefit from these behaviours but only a divine reward (good deed), they are engaging in desecularist behaviour, which is the polar opposite of secularism.
Second, some individuals and groups use these activities to further their worldly interests. According to the study’s examples, practices such as marketing and advertising activities as if they were commercial, demonstrate that this behaviour serves a secularist/worldly purpose. Individuals and groups involved in the activities benefit globally due to their efforts. Practices and activities unique to their religious identity and playing an important role in the cultural field have become a commercial product of global interest. Moreover, individual and group behaviours that result in a commercial product are evaluated within the context of secularism.
As a result, although examples are provided in the study, it is possible to conclude that the activities that serve the purpose of worldly interest are incompatible with the meaning and authenticity of religious music.
