Hidden Archives, Closeted Desires, Postponed Utopias: Queer Ultra-Nationalism in Turkish Opera

dc.contributor.author Altınay, Rüstem Ertuğ
dc.contributor.author Altınay, Rüstem Ertuğ
dc.contributor.other Visual Communication Design
dc.date 44837
dc.date.accessioned 2022-11-30T12:58:45Z
dc.date.available 2022-11-30T12:58:45Z
dc.date.issued 2022
dc.department Fakülteler, İletişim Fakültesi, Görsel İletişim Tasarımı Bölümü en_US
dc.description.abstract How do queer intellectuals produce dramatic texts for utopian archival projects? How do (once) hidden theatre practices exist in a complicated relationship with the claims about covert or clandestine performances in the messy afterlives of such unorthodox archives? This essay explores such processes and how they unfolded in the context of Turkish opera by focusing on the work of Rıza Nur (1879-1942). Rıza Nur was a queer Turkish politician who created an archive of resistance to propagate his ultra-nationalist and eugenicist utopian vision for Turkey’s future during the country’s formative years. In addition to his proposed programs for Turkey’s revivification and the establishment of an ultra-nationalist party, the archive also included Nur’s memoirs, essays, poetry, and two of his librettos. Nur trusted this archive to multiple European libraries on the condition that it would not be accessible until 1960. Nur’s desire was that once his archive would become public, it would transform Turkish people’s understanding of the past, make them recognize him as an unappreciated true leader, and adopt his utopian vision. Rıza Nur’s librettos demonstrate how operatic writing can function as an undercover strategy of queer self-making. The librettos reveal how archives function not only as repositories but also as sites of production, and how dramatic texts can gain queer dimensions and political significance in relation to other texts. Archives can thus provide crucial insights into discrete theatre practices and create important opportunities to review and revise performance historiographies. Nevertheless, the limited scholarly attention Nur’s librettos have received suggests how disciplinary and methodological conventions may render dramatic texts invisible even when they are in plain sight. Finally, Nur’s ultra-nationalist and eugenicist utopian archive challenges the tendency to associate queer utopian performance with progressive politics. en_US
dc.description.sponsorship European Research Council (ERC) 852216 STAGING-ABJECTION en_US
dc.identifier.citationcount 1
dc.identifier.citationreference Rüstem Ertuğ Altınay (2021) Hidden Archives, Closeted Desires, Postponed Utopias, Performance Research, 26:8, 116-125, DOI: 10.1080/13528165.2021.2088115 en_US
dc.identifier.doi 10.1080/13528165.2021.2088115 en_US
dc.identifier.endpage 125 en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1352-8165
dc.identifier.issn 1352-8165 en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1469-9990
dc.identifier.issn 1469-9990 en_US
dc.identifier.issue 8 en_US
dc.identifier.scopus 2-s2.0-85139145128 en_US
dc.identifier.scopusquality Q2
dc.identifier.startpage 116 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12469/4343
dc.identifier.volume 26 en_US
dc.identifier.wos WOS:000863574200015 en_US
dc.institutionauthor Altınay, Rüstem Ertuğ en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.relation.journal Performance Research en_US
dc.relation.publicationcategory Makale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı en_US
dc.rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess en_US
dc.scopus.citedbyCount 4
dc.title Hidden Archives, Closeted Desires, Postponed Utopias: Queer Ultra-Nationalism in Turkish Opera en_US
dc.type Article en_US
dc.wos.citedbyCount 3
dspace.entity.type Publication
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Hidden Archives, Closeted Desires, Postponed Utopias: Queer ultra-nationalism in Turkish opera