Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 23:04:51 +0000
From: Franzeska Ewart <wordplay-AT-dial.pipex.com>
Subject: Re: Let Karagoz Live!


At 12:11 19/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Cf. Maria's post:
>	One of the fascinating things about the omnipresent (and yet
>pretty abstract, if the source is only the biblical one Mark Levenson
>cites) "prohibition" against performing the human image is that, perhaps
>as a result, puppet theater is extremely important to certain aspects of
>islamic culture, moreso it seems than actors' theater.  This points to a
>very interesting power and possibility of puppet theater.
>
>john bell

Dear John,

Exactly what I was saying to someone earlier tonight!

I wonder if the 2nd Commandment is quite the same thing - I don't think it
is. As I see it, the Prophet was specifically saying that to represent ANY
living thing (maybe plants too - I don't know) was blasphemous. Only Allah
could create life. That's not like a graven image which is a 'god' to
worship, so the Jewish restriction is for a different reason?

But what I find so amazing is that, despite this restriction there were
fetvas specifically stating the LAWFULNESS of the shadow theatre in the
Ottoman Empire. Puppeteers were sometimes dervishes, extremely devout
Moslems, and apparently Karagoz was used to enact parts of the Koran (I
can't imagine it - surely couldn't be the same type of theatre as the one we
associate with Karagoz). Also - a puppeteer had to know at least 30 plays so
that he could perform a different one every night of Ramadan - again,
complete acceptance in Islam.
I think that it is strange that a culture which expressly forbade you to
draw a man, allowed you to make a man move and give him words!! What power
the shadow theatre must have had.

I'd love to hear more about this aspect of Karagoz.

Best wishes,

Franzeska
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