Commemorative Hospitality in Documentary Theatre: Revisiting the Collective Memory in Genco Erkal’s Sivas 93
Abstract
Focusing on Sivas 93 (2008), a Turkish documentary play by Genco Erkal, this paper is going to explore the construction of hospitality with victimized individuals and communities, especially those who are dead and absent, through commemoration in documentary theatre. The manifestation of hospitality on stage, in which ‘the host / the sovereign’ turns into the ‘hostage’ of ‘the guest / the foreign / the deviant’ as Derrida elucidates in Of Hospitality, contributes to the development of alternative responses to the mainstream media and its impact on collective memories. In this regard, while the reinterpretation of collective memories is a fundamental function of documentary theatre, my goal is to explore how Sivas 93 as a documentary play develops its own methods to revisit the past. Commemorating the absent and victimized people through performance, the play not only refreshes the collective memory but also underlines the society’s ethical responsibility towards those who have been symbolically displaced from home.
References
- Assmann, Aleida. “Transformations between history and memory.” Social Research 75, no. 1 (2008): 49-72. google scholar
- Ben Jelloun, Tahar. French Hospitality. Translated by Barbara Bray. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1999. (Original work published 1984). google scholar
- Bryne, Eleanor. Homi K. Bhabha. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. google scholar
- Chouliaraki, Lilie. The Spectatorship of Suffering. London, England: Sage Publications, 2006. google scholar
- Cixous, Helene. “Hospitality?” In Politics, Ethics andPerformance: Helene Cixous and the Theâtre du Soleil. Edited and Translated by Lara Stevens, 38-41. Melbourne, Australia: Re.press, 2016 (Original work published 2003). google scholar
- Derrida, Jacques. & Dufourmantelle, Anne. OfHospitality: Anna Dufourmantelle Invites google scholar
- Jacques Derrida to Respond. Translated by Rachel Bowlby. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. (Lecture originally presented in 1997). google scholar
- Erkal, Genco, (director). Sivas 93. Dostlar Tiyatrosu, Istanbul. January 11, 2008. All translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. google scholar
- Erkal, Genco. “Genco Erkal: An Interview”. In Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Mithat Alam Film Merkezi Söyleşi, Panel ve Sunum Yıllığı 2008. Edited by Ayşegül Oğuz & Deniz Nilüfer Erselcan, 211-240. Istanbul, Turkey: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2009. All translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. google scholar
- Freud, Sigmund. “The Uncanny.” In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis & Other Works. Edited and Translated by James Strachey, 217-256. London, England: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1955. (Original work published 1919). google scholar
- Greene, Gayle. “Feminist Fiction and the Uses of Memory.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 16, no. 2 (1991): 290-321. google scholar
- Halbwachs, Maurice. The Collective Memory. Translated by Francis J. Ditter, Jr., and Vida Yazdi Ditter. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1980. (Originally published in 1950). google scholar
- Large, William. Levinas’ “Totality and Infinity: A Reader’s Guide. London, England: Bloomsbury, 2015. google scholar
- Martin, Carol. “Bodies of Evidence.” In Dramaturgy of the Real on the World Stage, Edited by Carol Martin, 17-26. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. google scholar
- Paget, Derek. “The ‘Broken Tradition’ of Documentary Theatre and Its Continued Powers of Endurance.” In Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present. Edited by Alison Forsyth & Chris Megson, 224-238. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. google scholar
- Ricour, Paul. “Memory and Forgetting.” In Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy. Edited by Richard Kearney & Mark Dooley, 5-11. London, England: Routledge, 1999. google scholar
- Rosello, Mireille. Postcolonial Hospitality: The Immigrant as Guest. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001 google scholar
- Said, Edward. “Invention, Memory, and Place”. Critical Inquiry 26 no.2 (2000): 175-192. google scholar
- Schechner, Richard. “Ritual and performance.” In Companion Encyclopaedia of Anthropology: google scholar
- Humanity, Culture and Social Life. Edited by Tim Ingold, 613-647. London, England: Routledge, 1994. google scholar
- Still, Judith, Derrida and Hospitality: Theory and Practice. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. google scholar
- Taylor, Diana. The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. google scholar
Commemorative Hospitality in Documentary Theatre: Revisiting the Collective Memory in Genco Erkal’s Sivas 93
Abstract
Focusing on Sivas 93 (2008), a Turkish documentary play by Genco Erkal, this paper is going to explore the construction of hospitality with victimized individuals and communities, especially those who are dead and absent, through commemoration in documentary theatre. The manifestation of hospitality on stage, in which ‘the host / the sovereign’ turns into the ‘hostage’ of ‘the guest / the foreign / the deviant’ as Derrida elucidates in Of Hospitality, contributes to the development of alternative responses to the mainstream media and its impact on collective memories. In this regard, while the reinterpretation of collective memories is a fundamental function of documentary theatre, my goal is to explore how Sivas 93 as a documentary play develops its own methods to revisit the past. Commemorating the absent and victimized people through performance, the play not only refreshes the collective memory but also underlines the society’s ethical responsibility towards those who have been symbolically displaced from home.
References
- Assmann, Aleida. “Transformations between history and memory.” Social Research 75, no. 1 (2008): 49-72. google scholar
- Ben Jelloun, Tahar. French Hospitality. Translated by Barbara Bray. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1999. (Original work published 1984). google scholar
- Bryne, Eleanor. Homi K. Bhabha. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. google scholar
- Chouliaraki, Lilie. The Spectatorship of Suffering. London, England: Sage Publications, 2006. google scholar
- Cixous, Helene. “Hospitality?” In Politics, Ethics andPerformance: Helene Cixous and the Theâtre du Soleil. Edited and Translated by Lara Stevens, 38-41. Melbourne, Australia: Re.press, 2016 (Original work published 2003). google scholar
- Derrida, Jacques. & Dufourmantelle, Anne. OfHospitality: Anna Dufourmantelle Invites google scholar
- Jacques Derrida to Respond. Translated by Rachel Bowlby. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. (Lecture originally presented in 1997). google scholar
- Erkal, Genco, (director). Sivas 93. Dostlar Tiyatrosu, Istanbul. January 11, 2008. All translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. google scholar
- Erkal, Genco. “Genco Erkal: An Interview”. In Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Mithat Alam Film Merkezi Söyleşi, Panel ve Sunum Yıllığı 2008. Edited by Ayşegül Oğuz & Deniz Nilüfer Erselcan, 211-240. Istanbul, Turkey: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2009. All translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. google scholar
- Freud, Sigmund. “The Uncanny.” In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis & Other Works. Edited and Translated by James Strachey, 217-256. London, England: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1955. (Original work published 1919). google scholar
- Greene, Gayle. “Feminist Fiction and the Uses of Memory.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 16, no. 2 (1991): 290-321. google scholar
- Halbwachs, Maurice. The Collective Memory. Translated by Francis J. Ditter, Jr., and Vida Yazdi Ditter. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1980. (Originally published in 1950). google scholar
- Large, William. Levinas’ “Totality and Infinity: A Reader’s Guide. London, England: Bloomsbury, 2015. google scholar
- Martin, Carol. “Bodies of Evidence.” In Dramaturgy of the Real on the World Stage, Edited by Carol Martin, 17-26. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. google scholar
- Paget, Derek. “The ‘Broken Tradition’ of Documentary Theatre and Its Continued Powers of Endurance.” In Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present. Edited by Alison Forsyth & Chris Megson, 224-238. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. google scholar
- Ricour, Paul. “Memory and Forgetting.” In Questioning Ethics: Contemporary Debates in Philosophy. Edited by Richard Kearney & Mark Dooley, 5-11. London, England: Routledge, 1999. google scholar
- Rosello, Mireille. Postcolonial Hospitality: The Immigrant as Guest. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001 google scholar
- Said, Edward. “Invention, Memory, and Place”. Critical Inquiry 26 no.2 (2000): 175-192. google scholar
- Schechner, Richard. “Ritual and performance.” In Companion Encyclopaedia of Anthropology: google scholar
- Humanity, Culture and Social Life. Edited by Tim Ingold, 613-647. London, England: Routledge, 1994. google scholar
- Still, Judith, Derrida and Hospitality: Theory and Practice. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. google scholar
- Taylor, Diana. The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003. google scholar
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Applied Theatre |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | December 16, 2021 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2021 Issue: 33 |
