Institutional structures and institutionalization in Ottoman-Turkish Music according to Feldman

Abstract

This study aims to explain the institutionalization process of Ottoman-Turkish music by examining, on the basis of Walter Feldman’s historical findings, the institutional structures and social relations through which musical production, education, performance, and transmission were organized. The study is significant in that it does not limit institutionalization to the existence of formal institutions or physical structures, but considers together the mechanisms of continuity such as meşk, patronage, the circulation of musicians, repertoire transmission, and interaction among institutions. Accordingly, the main research problem is how the historical findings presented in different contexts in Feldman’s works can be explained within an integrated framework in terms of institutional structures and mechanisms of institutionalization in Ottoman-Turkish music. The study was conducted within a qualitative research approach using document analysis. Feldman’s works constituted the primary material of analysis, while Berger and Luckmann’s approach to institutionalization, Becker’s Art Worlds approach, and DeNora’s perspective on patronage and the social organization of musical production were used as the analytical framework. The findings revealed the functions of the Palace, Enderun, Meşkhane, Mehterhane, the Mevlevi Order, and other Sufi circles in musical life, the circulation of musicians among these structures, and the role of patronage in ensuring continuity. The study concludes that institutionalization in Ottoman-Turkish music did not develop through a single center, but rather displayed a polycentric and dynamic structure shaped by different institutions, actors, and musical practices, and that meşk, the circulation of musicians and repertoire, cooperation among actors, and patronage constituted the principal mechanisms of institutionalization.