Creating Global Music in Turkey

Creating Global Music in Turkey looks at the rise of ”world music” in Turkey by analyzing this country’s various “traditional” or ethnic music forms. The book focuses on the uniquely Turkish musical forms exemplified by Gypsy, Sufi, and Folk music, and explores how these have been incorporated into the global discourses of world music. In doing so, the book also shows how the place-making strategies of globalization are embodied through the construction of an “authentic” Istanbul sound under the label of world music. The reader is invited to consider each musical tradition as being a unique realm in its incorporation into world music. The process of incorporation and appropriation is explained by examination of the specificities of each realm. This book is unique within the relevant literature, focusing on the production of a global cultural form outside of the Western world. It uses the findings of comprehensive ethnographic research to reveal to the reader the strategies of actors, the discursive mechanisms in the field, and how the world music markets operate.

Koray Değirmenci’s Creating Global Music in Turkey is a study of how ‘world music’ has been constituted as a new musical category in Turkey since the turn of the millennium. . . . This is a relatively short book (125 pages of main text) that manages to both pack in a lot of detailed analysis and offer a theoretical perspective relevant for further studies of ‘world music’ in various contexts. . . . Değirmenci’s empirical material consists primarily of images (e.g. album covers), text (liner notes) and promotional materials produced by the record companies, as well as other textual materials such as published reviews which the author uses to gauge reception of the recordings discussed. He also draws on the numerous interviews which he has conducted with musicians and music industry personnel, including the owners or managing directors of the record companies he writes about. The case studies presented are thus empirically rich, allowing Değirmenci to give nuanced analyses. . . . Readers . . . will find a thoughtful and richly detailed study., Degirmenci's deft and well-informed book is the first to position Turkish music explicitly within the context of World Music and globalization. It reflects—and reflects upon—a moment in which Turkish music turned to the world, and the world to it. And it's written with the energy and exuberance of Istiklal Caddesi on a summer Saturday evening. A valuable and enjoyable book., Koray Degirmenci’s book is the first analysis of world music in the context of Turkey. It is only since about some ten years ago that Turkey entered the world music scene, at the same time Istanbul has changed its image to become an international attractive global city. As part of this process growing tension can be observed between global and local, sometimes even new ‘constructed localities.’Different strategies become visible, selling as ‘traditional’ and ‘non-western,’ or on the contrary emphasizing cross-cultural fusion. Comparable approaches can be seen in the program of Doublemoon and Kalan, the two most important Turkish world music labels. Degirmenci’s book is important for all who are trying to understand the manifold conflicts and contradictions of contemporary Turkish music scene., This fine book illuminates the rich diversity of Turkish musics, both now and in the past. It also shows how they’re informed by intense struggles over meaning and value. Authenticity, commodification, place, and identity are central to such battles, and Degirmenci analyses these and other concepts with insight and intelligence. It’s a book that should be read by anyone interested in music in the modern world.

Koray Degirmenci is an associate professor of sociology at Erciyes University in Turkey. He has published on photography, music, and urban sociology in several journals and edited books including Turkish Studies, International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, and The Aesthetic Dimension of Visual Culture.