Image via WikipediaGerlinde waited patiently for me to come up with something about Turkish children. So in addition to last week's post about Children's Day, I'm including a bonus...something that Turkish children like to watch.
Karagöz and Hacivat is a shadow puppet show which began as political satire during the Ottoman Empire. The two main characters are a couple of construction workers, who aren't very good at construction. Basically, its an old form of Beavis and Butt-head. See the resemblance now?
Over the years, there have been a cartoon and movie versions, but the classic show is still performed regularly as part of Children's Day, Ramazan, birthdays, or other special occassions.
There was a bit of controversy on the news about these two characters recently. Another Turkey vs Greece debate where Greece claimed their version, called Karagiozis,as the original. UNESCO ruled it an Intangible Cultural Element of Turkish heritage. Tomato, tomahto...who hasn't seen shadow puppets from China or Indonesia?
In this Youtube clip, Karagöz is pushing another character on a swing. The guy falls off (which is what happens when you ask the village idiot) and yells at Karagöz for pushing to hard. The pun for adults here is that "Salanmak" literally means to swing around, but the idiom about it refers to wasting time, which they are both very good at.
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Thank you for sharing this. I had to laugh when I read the Beavis and Butt-Head comparison. I love reading about various cultures.
ReplyDeleteI love shadow puppets. And yes, we adults do not use our time wisely.
ReplyDeleteJules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
The art above is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLike Beavis and Butt-head? How funny! This was so interesting. Thanks for the post. =)
ReplyDeleteGreat!! I've tried to respons at thisone earlyer but it didnt work... I've seen such play a few years ago and I like it! Thanks :) :)
ReplyDelete