Sanya Velkova

Karagyoz – the Balkan Character?

The article, for the first time in Bulgarian scholarly literature, elaborates on the topic of Karagyoz – the Theater of Shadows. It is interpreted from the viewpoint of Balkan Studies and the aim of the author is to take the subject beyond the sphere of presenting a cultural phenomenon little-known in Bulgaria by putting forth for consideration the questions which arise in a specialist in the process of analyzing the bibliography.

Karagyoz is also the Balkan comedia del arte – an unknown part of the cultural phenomena on the Balkans. Why is it that this kind of theater found favorable reception and developed in a specific way only in Greece (of all the Christian countries in Europe) and not in the other countries on the Peninsula, which were likewise in contact with the Ottoman Empire?

I could not find the reasons for this because, as I will try to underline in the text, the character of the protagonist Karagyoz, many of the personages, the pathos of the performance in general and of many of the plays could evolve in a similar way in any other country on the Balkan Peninsula.

There are three explanations for the origins of the Karagyoz theater. The first one recognizes its purely Turkish origin. The second one does not question the creation of the theater of shadows by the Turks but attempts to prove the Greek origin of the protagonist Karagyoz. However, there are Greek legends which, overcoming all obstacles, reach China and present the Chinese theater of shadows as a Greek achievement. What these theories have in common is that they refer to the territory of Asia. In principle, scientific studies almost unanimously establish the first appearance of the theater of shadows there, more specifically in the Far East. China is believed to be the cradle of this kind of theater by most researchers.

The article traces the origin of the Karagyoz theater of shadows and its specific development in Greece from 1830 to the 1960s. Special attention is devoted to the similarities and differences between the Turkish and Greek versions of the Karagyoz theater, of the personages, the themes and the actors who made this theater.
A selected bibliography of the studies on this topic is presented.