On beşinci yüzyıl edvar yazarlarının metinlerinde müzik ve kozmogoni ilişkisi

Abstract

On beşinci yüzyıl edvar kitapları, bulundukları dönemin tarihsel olarak çok daha öncesine dayanan kaynaklardan yüzyıllar boyunca yapılan çevirilerin bir uzantısı olarak karşımıza çıkarken, içerdiği çeşitli pasajlarla dönemin bilme biçimine uyumlu özgün ifadelere de yer vermektedir. Mevcut çalışmamızda bu eserlerin, dönem yazarlarının evreni algılayış biçimini anlamamıza ve kullandıkları yazı dilini anlamlandırmamıza yarayacak pasajları izole edilmiş ve bu pasajlar üzerinden metin temelli bir anlam araştırması yapılmıştır. Müzik teorisini odak noktasına oturtmasına rağmen bilimsel bilgi olarak isimlendirebileceğimiz müspet yapıları, kültür ve algılayış gamının tam ters yönündeki dogmatik hermetisizm ile bağdaştıran metinlerin özellikle belirli yazarların elinden çıkmış olması, bu alimlerin ifade yöntemlerini diğerlerinden ayrıştırarak mercek altına alma gerekliliğini beraberinde getirmektedir. Bu nedenle on beşinci yüzyıl edvar yazarları, günümüzde genel kanı itibarıyla `ilim erbabı` ve `iş erbabı` olarak iki temel sınıfa ayrılsa da bahsi geçen iki kategorinin geçirgenlik emareleri gösterdiğini ifade etmek yerinde olacaktır. Müspet açıklayıcılık ile aktarım yapan edvar yazarları, müzik teorisini net bir dil kullanarak ve neden/sonuç ilişkileri temelinde okuyucunun aklında adeta gerçekçi bir tablo çizercesine kaleme alırken, mistik bir ezoterizmi benimseyen edvar yazarları, gerek çevirisini yaptıkları hermetik temelli metinlerin, gerekse dönemin bilme biçiminin getirisi olan enformasyonun sorgulamasını yapmadan, didaktik ve dogmatik bir üslupla eser vermiştir. Esasen temelde açıklanmaya çalışılan konu -müzik- sabit kalmak üzere yazarların seçtiği ifade biçemleri dönemlerinin evreni anlamlandırma alışkanlıklarıyla paralellik gösterdiği için bu tip sınıflandırmaların, araştırma konusuna uzak bir tarihten bakan araştırmacılar tarafından anlamlandırma yöntemlerinde araç olarak kullanılmaktadır. Çeşitli dönemlerin evren modeli ve yaratılış mitolojilerinin ilmî çalışmalara sirayet etmesi, varoluşu anlamlandırmaya çalışan, felsefeye komşu zihinsel egzersizlere sebebiyet vermektedir. İrfan alanlarının, yaratılışın temel direklerini açıklayıcı unsurlar olarak kullanması sonucunu doğuran bu düşünme şekli zaman içinde çeşitli suretlere bürünebileceğinden, bu suretlerin özündeki düşünme alışkanlıklarının mümessili olan alimler de belirli fikrî cephelerde yerleşik olarak algılanabilmektedir. Lakin bu değişimler ani sıçramalar şeklinde değil kademeli gerçekleştiği için çeşitli cephelerden beslenerek söylemde geçirgenlik sağlayan ara durakların mevcudiyetinden bahsetmek mümkün olabilmektedir. Bu nedenle on beşinci yüzyıl edvar yazarlarını ilim ve iş erbabı şeklinde katı bir ayrıma tabi tutmak yerine mevcut tezde söylem farklarının belirginliği ön plana çıkarılmakta, bu sayede fikrî cepheler arasındaki geçirgenlik olasılığı tamamıyla göz ardı edilmemektedir.Tezde on beşinci yüzyıl edvar yazarlarının büyüteç altına alınmasının nedeni, bu metinlerin dönemin bilme biçimini ve müzik ile evren anlayışının tümleşik bir yapı olarak kabul edildiğini net bir biçimde açıklıyor oluşudur. Çalışmanın üzerine yükseldiği altı edvar kitabı, Seydî'nin El-Matlâ'sı, Yusuf bin Nizameddin Kırşehrî'nin Risale-i Edvar'ı, Ahmedoğlu Şükrullah'ın Risale Min İlmi'l-Edvar'ı, Kadızâde Tirevî'nin Risale-i Musikî'si, Hızır bin Abdullah'ın Kitabü-l Edvar'ı ve son olarak her ne kadar müzik teorisini dairelerle anlatmış olmasa da hermetik ifadeler barındırması ve kozmogonik bakışının diğerleri ile paralellik göstermesi sebebiyle Bedr-i Dilşâd'ın Muradnâme'sidir.Yukarıda listelenmiş olan eserlerin müzik ve kozmogoni içeren pasajları tez içinde izole edilmiş biçimde okuyucuya sağlanmıştır. Elde edilen bu varaklar üzerinde yorumlanan pasajlar işaretlenmiş ve çeviri yazı şeklinde sunulmuştur. Alıntılanan varakların altına eklenen çeviri yazıların kaynağı, her edvar kitabı için açılan hususi başlıklar altında belirtilmiştir. Tezin odak noktası edvar kitaplarında mevcut kozmogoninin kökeni olduğundan çevriyazılar alıntılanırken orijinal kaynağındaki transkripsiyon alfabesi kullanılmamıştır. Bunun yerine, anlamı etkileyeceği ya da telaffuz hatası nedeni ile yanlış yorumlanabileceği düşünülen makam, perde, müellif ve eser isimler gibi kelimelerde telaffuzu yönlendirerek okumayı kolaylaştırılacak tadilatlar gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çeviri yazıları alıntılanan varaklar belirli kuram ve kavramlar temel alınarak yorumlanmış ve bu sayede metin üzerinden anlamlandırma yoluna gidilmiştir. Bu işlem sırasında günümüzün evren anlayışı ile kıyaslamadan ve bu bakış açısı ile bir yargıya varmaktan kaçınan ve dönemin bilme biçimini, bilimsel bir ilerleyişin o günkü fotoğrafı olarak ele alan bir üslup benimsenmiştir. Episteme (bilme biçimi), işlevselcilik ve hermetik açıdan değerlendirilen pasajlar aynı zamanda kendi dönemlerinden çok daha önce kaleme alınmış eserlerin içerik ve üsluplarıyla metinler arası bir karşılaştırma ile gerek coğrafi gerek kültürel açıdan konumlandırılmıştır.Edvar kitapları günümüzde genellikle bulundukları dönem ve yazarın özgün tutumunu yansıtan ögeler olarak değerlendirilmekte ve bu değerlendirme şekli ile kıskaca alınan edvar kitapları, gerçekte izini taşıdıkları kültür ve tarihsel birikimden ayrıştırılmaktadır. Tezin amacı, daha önce belirtilmiş olan karşılaştırmalar ve anlamlandırmalar üzerinden edvar kitaplarındaki metinlerin esasen çok daha geniş bir coğrafya ve çok daha çeşitli kültürel cephelerin kümülatif bir çalışması olarak görülmesini sağlamaktır. Bu sayede mistik ezoterizmi benimseyen on beşinci yüzyıl edvar yazarlarının eserleri, sadece bulundukları coğrafyanın entelektüel zenginliği olarak kültürel bir fanus içinde hapsedilmek yerine, Anadolu topraklarında da mirasçısı olduğumuz insanlık tarihinin mihenk taşlarından biri olarak kadim uygarlıkların ve ardından bizlerin omuzları üzerinde yükselmeye devam edecektir.Bahsi geçen konumlandırma sonucunda edvar kitapları üzerinde üretilen bu yeni bakış açısı ile sorulabilecek yeni sorular ve açılacak yeni araştırma alanları hem daha geniş hem de daha sağlam bir temel üzerine inşa edilebilecektir.

Although marginally depending on the translation of works composed several centuries before their initial penning, the tractates of the fifteenth century Ottoman music theory -known as edvar - also contain original information and expressions coherent with the knowledge of their era. In the thesis presented, textual passages from the edvar tractates carrying implications -often subtle- about the way of the perception of the universe and the literary language of the scholars are isolated and research on meaning is carried out. While a number of the edvar tractates are comprised of a concrete discourse which at times border a scientific world view as we may entitle it to be as of today, at the opposing side of the spectrum certain edvar tractate authors adopt a written language relying on a dogmatic hermeticism that arises a necessity to classify fifteenth century edvar authors according to their expressive idiosyncrasies. Fifteenth century edvar authors, as a common practice, are categorized in two main spheres of scholarly approach, generally termed as `connoisseurs of science` and `connoisseurs of knowledge`. The authors who reside in the former lean towards painting a realistic picture of their contemporary music theory by utilizing a concrete discourse. Yet the authors of the latter -which constitute the subject of the thesis- absent themselves from challenging the prevailing set of information fed into their work from both their translations of certain hermetically inclined texts together with the common way of knowing which was dominant at the time they were penned; thus encouraging the production of a certain type of didactic turn of expression with a considerable amount of dogmatism woven in their fabric that provides this thesis with its main subject of research. Although this approach sounds as if a strict separation is present, it is possible to state that the two schools of thought may still possess intellectual permutations. Discourses adopted by the edvar authors show signs of correspondence with the habitual practices of cosmogonical interpretations; therefore they are utilized as classification methods for modern researchers who are situated in remote areas in time; far from the original authors.The natural transfer of the universe model and creational lores into scientific studies gives rise to an interpretational campaign about the micro and macrocosm via mental exercises that borders philosophy. The school of thought born out of areas of knowledge which are used as explanatory components for the foundations of creation, may be subject to metamorphosis. Thus, intellectuals who are representatives of the aformentioned schools of thought can also be evaluated as the resident elements of intellectual fronts. However, these changes do not occur as sudden leaps but as gradual shifts. As a result, it becomes possible to establish the presence of intellectual middle grounds fed by multiple schools of thought. This is the reason that in this thesis, a discourse of permeability is embraced, thus the possibility of interaction between intellectual fronts is not overlooked completely.The reason the connoisseurs of knowledge of the fifteenth century is the designated focus of this thesis lies in their unifying nature. The common world view, the perception of the universe -which is often tightly hand in hand with the music theory- and the way of knowing is expressed clearly as a unified unit and the building blocks of a vast system of interconnections, correlations and associations; achieving a way of explanations to construct the meaning of existence itself. The six edvar tractates upon which the thesis is built are as follows; El-Matlâ by Seydî, Risale-i Edvar by Yusuf bin Nizameddin Kırşehrî, Risale Min İlmi'l-Edvar by Ahmedoğlu Şükrullah, Risale-i Musikî by Kadızâde Tirevî, Kitabü-l Edvar by Hızır bin Abdullah, and lastly Muradnâme by Bedr-i Dilşâd. Although in Muradnâme, the music theory is not graphically rendered in circular structures, the reason it is included in this study is the fact that the style of wording and the hermetic expressions used are parallel with the cosmogonic foundations of the remaining five edvar tractates.The relevant foils -which include musical and cosmogonical materials- isolated from the aforementioned manuscripts are supplied as facsimiles to the reader in this thesis. The relevant passages in the foils which are commented on are marked and transcriptions of the marked passages are also supplied. While citing the transcriptions, the transcription alphabet used in the original source is not transferred directly into the thesis as the main focus of the work is the origin of the resident cosmogony in the treatises. Instead, in circumstances where it is possible for the reader to misinterpret the text, necessary modifications using diacritical letters are implemented in order to orientate the reader and render the text comprehensible. The passages which are transcribed are analysed over a foundation of several theories and concepts thus the text is interpreted through the filter of a sociologically enforced vantage point. In this endeavour, our contemporary understanding of the universe and our way of knowing is filtered out to avoid any and every possible logical contamination which may lead to a distorted interpretation. Instead, one may sense an intense effort to embrace the world view of the fifteenth century Ottoman society and accept it as the glimpse to the era's scientific progression in order to probe into the minds of the edvar tractate authors as unpolluted by our way of thinking and knowing as possible. The excerpts from the edvar tractates which are illuminated under the light of episteme (way of knowing), functionalism and hermetic are intertextually compared with the contents and styles of pre fifteenth century manuscripts, letting us pave a path to position the edvar tractates both geographically and culturally.Culture, considered as the carrier of the cumulative memory of a given society in a certain temporal locality, comes forth with a necessity to identify it by the constants it possesses. Yet in such an approach, it becomes clear that culture is built upon an ever in flux foundation; be it a modification in a code of conduct or an overhaul of certain values. It lays down a framework of mental practices coupled by habitual codes of application derived from those practices. When coupled by the episteme (the regime of knowledge) of the fifteenth century, it is realised as an endeavour, consisting a thorough study of the microcosmos -being the worldly elements of creation and their reflection in the experienceable plane of existence- in order to tap into the mechanics and the essence of the macrocosm -namely the spheres of existence according to the cosmological model- thus functioning as a mediary between the known and the unknown. To illustrate the fact, an extra-musical approach to such a regime can be traced back to Rudolf II (1552-1612) -Holy Roman Emperor of the second half of the sixteenth century- and his chamber of curiosities. As a man of utmost power and geographical reach, he was able to collect items of exotic nature from around the globe just to curate a foundation for all the knowledge available to men and possibly access a greater understanding of the macrocosm -namely the universe- and its inner workings. Such a curated endeavour of systematic approach to understanding and formulating the universe has a unique piece among its ranks; Mira Caligraphiae Monumenta, a calligraphy manuscript containing samples of the scripts used in the era of its conception. It was penned by Georg Bocskay (1510-1575) in 1561 and 1562, then illuminated by Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1601) from 1591 to 1596. Although the main focus of the masterpiece is not the meaning contained in the script, it is meant to be a showpiece of the court scribe. What makes it distinctive among others is the fact that it was illuminated with information about an exotic world and the numerous curiosities it offers. Hoefnagel, being a well-travelled artist of his time, he was able to depict the marvels of the world and share it with a community that is yet to traverse the globe and experience it first-hand. The main reason Mira Caligraphiae Monumenta is one of the curiosities that piece together an understanding of the observable universe is its capability of presenting an insight to how a larger universe may be functioning. Thus, gaining power through knowledge, be it worldly or heavenly. The effort of tapping into the mechanics of a higher conscience is achieved through the examination of its reflections in the observable universe. This prevalent disposition of the episteme is the governing body of the given time frame as it is possible to observe its impact both in the musically inclined texts as well as extra-musical content, both being the expression of a greater sphere of creation no matter what the focus of the work might be.The aforementioned time frame is also a matter of concern in the thesis. The focus of study -namely the fifteenth century-, as specific as it may seem, is impossible to be assessed with the scope where a build up to its episteme is not in question. Therefore, research should be executed to present the reader with the authentic source of episteme which leads the entreated authors to adopt a written discourse manifested in their musical treatises. Also, as a result, the current study concerns itself with the predecessors and successors of the fifteenth century music treatises to model a comprehensive structure descriptive of the dominant approach to the cosmogony. Once established, such a world view is recognized and utilized as the explanatory constant for the image of a time long lost, just to be envisioned in its original form. A junction of episteme -long abandoned versus modern- is also presents its own pitfalls; as an inclination towards interpretation of an archaic form of knowledge using a modern discourse will certainly be an exercise in futility. This is the main reason a wider than indicated time frame is the matter of discussion in the thesis presented.Music as a cultural product of society may be considered as a descriptive element for its contemporary episteme and social structure. This idea is also discussed in the thesis as to demonstrate how a certain musical composition is able to reflect its society as a whole. Therefore, works of musical nature from various temporal areas of music history are sampled and dissected to reveal the idiosyncrasies of societies reflected through their musical constructions; setting a baseline to clarify the episteme and social structure of the fifteenth century music scene. The noteworthy essence of carrying out such an exercise is to unveil the cosmogony of the given society alongside its musical practices; both existing in a symbiotic relation to one another.Treatises that include music theory -as well as information on other areas of knowledge as encountered in the majority- penned in the Ottoman period of Anatolia, although seemingly focusing on the foundation, structure and performance of music, also present the reader with the prevalent model of the cosmos and manifest an interwoven network of relations between music and creation as a whole. This mode of knowledge is not a conscious choice but an outcome of the values imposed to stabilize a society founded upon a cultural structure; one that is constructed by traditions which may stretch beyond the borders of the society in question. Although the main concepts creating the cosmogony is virtually fixed throughout several millennia, the expressions and the approach to explaining music theory shows a character based on duality. On one side, resides the authors who handle music as an auditory phenomenon and concern themselves with the relations between quantifiable qualities of sound, therefore construct a baseline for sounds to become music utilizing the mathematically assigned values. On the other side a block of authors who employ a somewhat esoteric tone while designing their texts free of rational and mathematical concerns. This descriptive duality is maintained throughout history and as a result of the investigation carried out, the ebb and flow of the mentioned modes of expression is summarized in the thesis, situating the fifteenth century treatises -and many others throughout history- in their respective stations.It is common practise for contemporary scholars to evaluate the edvar tractates as the definitively original works of their authors and periods, reflecting their individual styles. The edvar tractates which are restricted solely to such an approach as mentioned are bound to be disassociated from the traces of cultural and historical heritage that they bear and transfer. The intention of this study is to position the edvar tractates as an outcome of a cumulative labour of a multi-cultural geo-historical scene by the aforementioned interpretations and intertextual comparisons. Thusly the works of the fifteenth century edvar authors will be ceded to be evaluated as the intellectual property of their geographic origin and wrapped in cotton wool but gain a significant value as they will be appreciated as one of humanity's cornerstones that maintain their rise on our shoulder whom we are heirs to the cultural heritage in Asia Minor.As a result of the aforementioned positioning and point of view supplied by this thesis, any new inquiries and further possible studies that would take the fifteenth century edvar tractates into focus may build upon a wider and stronger foundation.