Âşıklar, içinde bulundukları toplumun dünya görüşünü, sanat zevkini, yaşam düzenini ve beraberinde de geleneklerini yansıtan, yaşatan ve gelecek nesillere aktarılmasında köprü görevi gören halk sanatçılarıdırlar. Bir yönüyle, halk edebiyatı - halk müziği ürünlerinin hem üreticisi hem taşıyıcısı hem de güncelleyicisi olan âşıklar, bu yönüyle de halk kültürü içerisinde önemli bir yer tutan ve kendine özgü kuralları olan âşıklık geleneğinin, asli temsilcileri olarak günümüze kadar ulaşmayı başarabilmişlerdir. Ancak, ülkemizde âşık sanatına dönük çalışmalara Tanzimat sonrasında ve yoğun olarak da 20. yy’ın ilk çeyreğini takip eden süreçte başlanabilmiş, kadın âşıklar üzerine yapılan çalışmalar ise, daha çok yirminci yüzyılın son çeyreğinden itibaren ilgi çekici bir konu olarak algılanabilmiştir. Kısacası, haklarında yeterli çalışmaların yapılmadığı kadın âşıklar, büyük ölçüde bu dönemde ihmale uğramışlardır. İhmalin nedenleri irdelendiğinde, ortaya çıkan pek çok sorunun cevabı olarak, kadın âşıkların toplumsal rollerinin neden olduğu problemler karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Kadınların toplum içi yaşam biçimlerinden ve sorumluluklarından kaynaklanan bu problemler, onların sanat hayatını da çarpıcı şekilde etkilemiş, hatta adeta engellemiştir. Bu çerçevede, çalışmanın amacı, âşık sanatı (âşıklık geleneği) içerisinde yer alan günümüz kadın temsilcilerinin sanatçı kimliklerini, geleneği temsil biçimlerini irdelemek ve beraberinde bahsi geçen temsilcilerin ürettiklerinden örnekler vererek, bulundukları konumun durumunu, neden-sonuç ilişkilerini sorgulayarak değerlendirmektir. Müzikoloji-etnomüzikoloji araştırma teknikleri kullanılarak hazırlanan bu çalışmada, tarihsel veriler, alan çalışması verileri ve müzikal analiz yöntemleri kullanılmış; söz konusu veriler ve yöntemler ayrıca “toplumsal cinsiyet” teorisi bağlamında da değerlendirilmiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Kadın âşık, âşıklık geleneği (sanatı), toplumsal cinsiyet, sosyal konum-kimlik.The aim of this study is to elaborate the artist identities of contemporary women minstrels, the way they represent the minstrel tradition and, giving examples of their works, to evaluate their situation at their current position. Also, by questioning the contemporary problems of the women minstrels, by discussing their shortcomings, criticizing if necessary, to raise the level of cultural consciousness has been aimed. In this study, which was prepared by adopting the approach of musicology-ethnomusicology, methods such as historical research, site work, musical analysis have been used and, since it was also necessary to examine how the gender of women minstrels reflected in their art, the results obtained have been evaluated in the context of social gender theory. Minstrels reflect and carry ahead the points of view, tastes of art, living practices and traditions of the society they live in and play an important part in transmitting folk art to future generations. They are fundamental representatives of the minstrel art, which holds an important place within the culture of the people, be it male or female. It is a well known fact that, for a long period of time, minstrel art, has been represented, has found opportunity to live, has been transmitted, learned and taught visually and aurally in environments such as minstrel cafes, semai (It is a specific style in folk music.) cafes, village centers, fairs. However, these are environments for communication, entertainment and chat, totally between men. In order to be able to exist in, what we call, male dominant professional spheres (within the minstrel art) of the tradition, it is necessary to play saz and sing, to travel between villages-towns-cities day and night when needed, to get training in the context of master-apprentice relationship, to participate certain activities, etc. To fulfill these necessities, is not easy at all for women. Therefore, in these male dominant surroundings, women minstrels cannot find a place for themselves and thus there appears a shortcoming in their art. Male minstrel candidates complete their training process in these surroundings; gain certain qualifications by passing through certain stages under master's training, by traveling together with the master when needed. In connection with this, it can be said that, since, from the aspect of training conditions, minstrels get formation within an understanding of art, covering relations mainly between men, women minstrels have been condemned to a sort of closed circuit training process based mainly on experience within the limits of family and/or relatives and as a result, they have determined themselves certain ways of existence. However, women minstrels, about whom there have not been sufficient studies up until the last quarter of twentieth century, have mostly been neglected. When trying to elaborate the reasons of this neglect, as answers to many questions, one comes across with problems that arise due to their social roles as women and that influence their art. In the context of social gender theory, their socially determined role has a huge influence on the place of women minstrels within the tradition and that the derivative problems, reflect in their works. In connection with this, traditional artist identities and life styles of women minstrels, literary and musical works they have created, and traditional and modern presentation methods of these works, do qualify as documents of the problem under consideration. In conclusion, it has been established that women minstrels face problems due to their woman identity. As a reflection of their social role in performance of their art, we have come across with their lacking the natural training process within the tradition, insufficiency of technical knowledge about it, restrictions in providing circumstances for performance, saz-vocal performance being within a limited voice range, musical hybridization, shortcoming of self-confidence in performing their art. Also, effort was made to explain the reasons of why the tradition under consideration is less popular among women, in consistence with the implications of their social role. In addition to these, although the women minstrels who took part in the study lived and were brought up in different regions, although they created works in different types and forms, a qualitative similarity between the works they have produced attracts attention. Despite all the differences, the 'womanish spirit and sensitivity' in their works imposes itself as an unchanging social identity. Keywords: Woman minstrel, minstrel tradition/ minstrel art, social gender, social place, social identity.
