ÇALGILARIN KÖKENİNE İLİŞKİN YENİ BİR YAKLAŞIM: MONOGENESIS, POLYGENESIS VE ÖTESİ İÇİN “SINEGENESIS” KAVRAMSAL ÖNERİSİ

Öz

Organoloji literatüründe çalgıların kökenine ilişkin açıklamaların büyük ölçüde monogenesis ve polygenesis kavramları etrafında yoğunlaştığı görülür. Bu kavramlar, “Herhangi bir çalgının kökeni nedir?” sorusuna verilen yanıtı soy zinciri ve coğrafi yayılım düzeyinde soyutlamaya çalışan kavramsal modeller olarak işlemektedir. Elektronik, dijital ve hibrit çalgıların ortaya çıkışıyla birlikte, bu iki modelin açıklayıcılık sınırları özellikle kökensel sürekliliğin zayıf olduğu çağdaş çalgı tasarımları karşısında belirginleşmektedir. Bu durum, organoloji alanında köken açıklamalarına dayanan mevcut paradigmaların yeniden değerlendirilmesini ve çağdaş çalgı üretim biçimlerinin farklı bir kavramsal düzlemde tartışılmasını gerektirmektedir. Bu çalışmada, söz konusu sorunun kavramsal temellerini saptayabilmek amacıyla organoloji literatürüne yönelik doküman incelemesi yapılmıştır. İnceleme bulguları, monogenesis ve polygenesis yaklaşımlarının, soy zinciri kurulabilen tarihsel örnekler için anlamlı olmakla birlikte, tasarım mantığı ve teknoloji ağları içinde geliştirilen birçok çağdaş çalgıyı köken ekseninde açıklamakta sınırlı kaldığını göstermektedir. Özellikle kökeni tekil ya da çoklu tarihsel merkezlere bağlanamayan, buna karşılık özgün tasarım ilkeleri üzerinden tanımlanabilen çalgılar bu sınırlılığı görünür kılan örnekler olarak öne çıkmaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışma, sinegenesis kavramını kökene ilişkin açıklamalarda monogenesis ve polygenesis’in yanına yerleşen, kapsamı daraltılmış ve tamamlayıcı bir kategori olarak önermektedir. Sinegenesis, köken bilgisinin soy zinciri düzeyinde kurulamadığı, tasarım ve teknolojik konfigürasyonların belirleyici olduğu çalgılar için kullanılması öngörülen kavramsal bir etikettir. Araştırma sonuçlarının, köken araştırmalarına yönelik metodolojik yaklaşımların çeşitlendirilmesine ve özellikle elektronik ve dijital çalgılara ilişkin organolojik veri tabanlarının yapılandırılmasında köken hanesinin daha esnek biçimde tanımlanmasına kuramsal düzeyde katkı sağlayabileceği düşünülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Organoloji
• çalgıların kökeni
• monogenesis
• polygenesis
• sinegenesis

A NEW APPROACH TO THE ORIGINS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: A CONCEPTUAL PROPOSAL OF “SYNGENESIS” BEYOND MONOGENESIS AND POLYGENESIS

Abstract

Organological literature shows that explanations of the origins of musical instruments have largely been framed in terms of the concepts of monogenesis and polygenesis. These concepts operate as models that seek to abstract answers to the question “What is the origin of a given instrument?” at the levels of genealogical lineage and geographical diffusion. With the emergence of electronic, digital and hybrid instruments, however, the explanatory limits of these two models have become particularly evident in relation to contemporary instrument designs in which genealogical continuity is weak. This situation requires a re-evaluation of existing origin paradigms within organology and calls for contemporary modes of instrument production to be discussed on a different conceptual plane. In this study, a document analysis of the organological literature is conducted in order to identify the conceptual foundations of this problem. The findings indicate that, while monogenesis and polygenesis remain meaningful as explanatory models for historical cases in which a genealogical lineage can be reconstructed, they prove limited in accounting for many contemporary instruments whose production is embedded in design logics and technological networks. Instruments whose origins cannot be convincingly linked to single or multiple historical centres, yet can be defined through distinctive design principles, emerge as particularly salient examples of this limitation. In this context, the study proposes the concept of sinegenesis as a narrowly defined and complementary category that stands alongside monogenesis and polygenesis in origin-related explanations. Sinegenesis is envisaged as a conceptual label to be used for instruments whose origin cannot be established at the level of genealogical lineage and in which design and technological configurations are the primary determinants. The results of the research are expected to contribute, at a theoretical level, to the diversification of methodological approaches to origin studies and to a more flexible definition of the “origin” field in organological databases, particularly with regard to electronic and digital instruments.

Keywords

• Organology
• origins of musical instruments
• monogenesis
• polygenesis
• sinegenesis

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