SHOE MAKERS IN CLASSICAL TURKISH LITERATURE TEXTS

Abstract

As in all branches of art, it is undeniable truth life where it is lived in and world reflects to the work in literature too. But it is possible to be re-evaluated these realities placed in art work by artist again or to be strained from the dream sieve of artist again. This world which was remanufactured in dream world of artist encounters us as an artwork and carries hits about the life of that period and civilization which was drawn in that period. In our study, “shoemaking” and “shoemakers” who have an important place in occupational organization of Ottoman society will be handled. A classification study was performed based on shoe which has an important for humankind as being a protective wear besides being a subsidiary of clothes by “edük, başmak, kefş, pâbûş, Mûze, na‘l/ na‘leyn/ na‘lçe, çarık” words and based on shoe making occupation such as “edükçü, başmakçı, haffâf, kefşger, pâbûşcu, mûze-dûz, na‘leyn-tırâş” etc. words. And some words was mentioned even they are not directly related with shoe making or shoes as they are existed within the texts. Determinations were carried out about shoe makers practicing this occupation have been handled whichever and what aspects. Within this frame, shoemakers, shoe shops, tools and equipment used in shoe manufacturing, were evaluated by the samples selected from poems of Ottoman poets Shoe is one of the wears utilized in order to be protected from nature’s negative conditions. The basic purpose of the shoe has been to protect feet from environmental conditions and act comfortably in this way from the date of its invention to our day. However, it has become an indicator which is employed for different aims over time in line with the development of production possibilities. Shoes, providing information as to ethnicity, faith, profession, social status, have overtime become an ornamental device in line with the changing aesthetic inclinations and fashion concept. Inasmuch as it is one of the fundamental needs of people it can be asserted that the origin of the shoe is as old as mankind itself. Shoes originally were produced in a simple way from animal or plant raw materials in line with our current knowledge. The diversification of raw materials as well as the enrichment of production possibilities over time has caused change and improvement in the shoe production process. The differentiation of requirements of the people in addition to the simplification in the production process has led to changes in the quality of the shoes. Different kinds of shoes have been created based on seasonal conditions, natural conditions and employment fields. The lifestyle of the people in addition to the environmental conditions and the usage purpose of the shoes have affected the design of the shoes. Turks have produced shoes since very old times. Scythians, Huns, Göktürks (Celestial Turks) have put on shoes and boots made of soft leather in addition to other clothing and garments. Turks advanced considerably in shoe manufacturing during the Seljuk period. Futuwwa (Arabic: “young-manliness” or “chivalry”) organization which was a professional organization firstly seen during the Seljuk period in the 13th and 14th centuries. This organization continued its existence by virtue of Ahi-order during the Ottoman era, and formed its own system with the rituals thereof. In this context, the entire process including the number of shops in the cities the clothes of the shopkeepers, their behaviors and relations with each other and customers, and the quality of the products they manufactured were kept under control. Strengthening of professional organizations enhanced trade during the Ottoman period. Raw material procurement processes became easier thanks to increased trade thereby leading to increased product variety and quality. In this way, the trade life became more active which caused the development and enrichment of the artisan bazaars. Other professions were also classified in very detailed way just like shoemakers in the Ottoman era in line with information provided through Evliya Celebi. Almost every type of shoe was manufactured through a different group of artisans. Each and every artisan group was organized separately and their shops were together in different places. Information as to professions was included in sources such as official records, court records, records kept by the states for archival purposes in ancient societies. In addition to these, various elements related to the professions were included in the artworks. However, this information in the artworks was not systematically treated as an absolute reality as they are generally in encyclopedic works. The artist has changed the elements of the society where he has grown -or which he has observed- in his mind by giving it an artistic qualification and reflected it to his work. As such, artworks -in varying proportions- maintain the traces of the social life of the period in which they have been created. However, it is not easy to find in artworks the traces of the social life of the period. This study is a “monographic” study focused on the “shoe-making” profession. It is aimed to make an assessment of the Ottoman social life in the study basing on the “shoe-making” and “terms related to this craft” in classical Turkish poetry texts. In the literature research conducted in line with this objective the materials identified in various literary works such as seyahatnâme, sûrnâme, divan, mesnevi and şehrengiz were evaluated. Several divans from various centuries were examined, the couplets detected during the scanning were signed by cards and subsequently they were grouped according to their contents and “the examples representing each group best” were included in the study. In the researches we made it was seen that the profession of shoemaking is mainly discussed in two main groups: production and sales on texts based on narratives created by observations and depictions such as seyahatnâme and sûrn

Özet

Sanatın bütün dallarında olduğu gibi edebiyatta da içinde yaşanılan hayatın ve dünyanın esere yansıdığı yadsınamaz bir gerçektir. Ancak sanat eserlerinde yer alan bu gerçekliklerin ve yaşanılan dünyanın sanatçının gözünden tekrar bir değerlendirmeye tabi tutulması, sanatçının hayal süzgecinden geçmesi de söz konusudur. Sanatçının hayal dünyasında tekrar ürettiği bu dünya, sanat eseri olarak karşımıza çıkmakta ve devrin yaşantısına, o devirde çizilmiş olan medeniyet dairesine ilişkin ipuçları taşımaktadır. Çalışmamızda, Osmanlı toplumunun meslek teşkilatlanması içinde önemli bir yere sahip olan "ayakkabıcılık ve ayakkabıcılar" ele alınacaktır. Yaşanılan bütün devirlerde kıyafetin önemli bir tamamlayıcısı olmanın yanı sıra korunma amaçlı bir giysi olmasıyla da insanoğlu için ehemmiyet taşıyan ayakkabı ile ilgili olarak Osmanlı edebî metinlerinde geçen "edük, başmak, kefş, pâbûş, mûze, na'l/ na'leyn/ na'lçe, çarık" vb. kelimelerden hareketle; ayakkabıcılık mesleği ile ilgili olarak da "edükçü, başmakçı, haffâf, kefşger, pâbûşcu, mûze-dûz, na'leyn-tırâş" vb. kelimelerden hareketle bir tasnif çalışması yapılmıştır. Yine ayakkabı ve ayakkabıcılıkla doğrudan bir ilişki içinde olmasa da metinlerde yer aldıkları kadarıyla dolaylı olarak meslekle ilişkilendirilmiş bazı kelimelere de değinilmiştir. Ayakkabıcılık mesleğiyle bu mesleği icra eden ayakkabıcıların metinlerde hangi yönleriyle ve ne şekilde ele alındığına dair tespitlerde bulunulmuştur. Bu çerçevede, ayakkabıcılar, ayakkabıcı dükkânları, ayakkabı yapım ve tamirinde kullanılan araç-gereçler, farklı yüzyıllarda yaşamış olan divan şairlerinin şiirlerinden ve çeşitli metinlerden seçilmiş örnekler vasıtasıyla değerlendirmeye tabi tutulmuştur