Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
AMS-NE The New England Chapter of the American Musicological Society, Massachusetts, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, 25 Nisan 2026, (Yayınlanmadı)
MUSIC
JOURNALISM AND ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE:
WRITING MUSICIANS AND MARKETS IN 1930S TURKEY
This paper examines the role of music journalism
in articulating the economic and social dimensions of musical practice in early
Republican Turkey. Focusing on the 1932 newspaper series by Ahmet Sırrı Uzelli,
“Kimlerdir, Ne Kazanırlar?” (“Who Are They, What Do They Earn?”), it
analyzes interviews with musicians to explore how professional hierarchies,
institutional structures, and market conditions shaped both the production and
reception of music. Despite its central role in shaping musical meaning, music
journalism has remained relatively understudied, often occupying a marginal
position within both musicology and journalism studies.
Rather than treating these texts as simple
documentation, the paper interprets them as a site where the political economy
of music becomes visible. The interviews reveal how economic conditions
structured musicians’ careers, performance opportunities, and the public perception
of different musical genres. In doing so, the series mediates between state-led
cultural reforms and the realities of musical practice, translating abstract
policies into concrete accounts of labor, value, and professional status.
Nearly a century later, these interviews enable a reconstruction of the social
and cultural contexts in which they were produced, offering insight into a form
of journalism that was historically marginalized yet central to the formation
of musical meaning.
Drawing on archival sources and a recent
monograph on the political economy of music in early Republican Turkey, the
paper situates music journalism as an analytical lens for understanding how
economic, institutional, and cultural factors converge in musical life. It argues
that journalism did not merely report on music but functioned as a framework
through which the conditions of musical labor and production were publicly
articulated. By situating these sources within interdisciplinary approaches in
musicology, media studies, and the political economy of culture, the paper
contributes to broader discussions on the role of journalism in shaping musical
publics and the economic structures underlying artistic production.