The Role of the Kırşehir Abdals in the Transformation of Âşık Poetry into Bozlak

Kırşehir Abdals

Abstract

In Anatolia, every piece performed with a melody is referred to as a türkü (folk song). A türkü consists of two components: the melody and the lyrics. While the lyrics fall within the domain of literary studies, the melodic aspect is examined by musicology. This study explores the transformation of products of the minstrel (âşık) poetic tradition into bozlak, a type of uzun hava (free-rhythm folk song), through their technical features that can be audibly perceived and visually observed when transcribed. The scope of this study comprises poems by Dadaloğlu, known as a tribal minstrel, and Âşık Said of Toklumen, renowned in the region of Kırşehir and its surroundings, which have been adapted and performed as bozlak by abdal-composer-performers such as Muharrem Ertaş and Neşet Ertaş. The study selects as examples the compositions “Ağ Gelin (Oturmuş Ağ Gelin Taşın Üstüne)” and “Yağmur Yağdı Yine Bulandı Hava”, along with “Çıktım Yücesine Seyran Eyledim (Biter Kırşehir’in Gülleri)”, which exhibits characteristics of both long-form and broken-style folk music, resulting in a hybridized form. Given the focus on visually and aurally identifiable elements, the research adopts a comparative methodology, analyzing the original poetic texts alongside their musical adaptations. Primary sources for Dadaloğlu’s poetry were drawn from various works listed in the bibliography, whereas Âşık Said’s compositions were obtained from Baki Yaşa Altınok’s scholarly study. The textual representations of poems performed as songs or bozlaks were transcribed by analyzing audio and video recordings of performances by Abdal musicians, primarily sourced from digital platforms such as YouTube. The transcription process recorded all audible elements without the use of a phonetic alphabet, thus concretely demonstrating the artistic contribution of the composer -or, in the case of folk songs, the “folk song creator”- to the musical adaptation of the original poetic work.