Author(s): Ayrin ERSÃZ
In Bulgaria the politics of assimilation, and immigration enforcement practices based on religious and ethnic discrimination especially towards Muslim Turks, taking various forms under various names depending on historical circumstances and the conjuncture of the power relations in the World were carried out showing continuity from 1877-1878 Ottoman – Russia war until 1989. Despite the fact that the severe assimilation which began in 1984 and was finalized with forced mass migration in 1989 was the subject of many research and studies by various branches of science it has not received an interest in the field of art in proportion to its importance and magnitude. Therefore in this paper, simler Evi (The House of Names) performed at 16th International Istanbul Theatre Festival and 18th International Varna Theatre Festival, the only dramatic dance work that covers this issue in the field of contemporary dance art is scrutinized. In this autobiographical work Ayrin Ersöz, who is the writer of text, choreographer and the dancer of the work, tackles the issues, of her handling the assimilation and the immigration in 1989 that she experienced herself, sheds light on how the art of dance relates to sociological and political facts. Among the philosophical foundations of the art of contemporary dance, there are also somatic and phenomenological approaches. In this work disclosed in this direction the lived experience of a girl between the ages of 10-14 from a Muslim Turkish family are handled through the world of her soul and mind and her exposure to destructive attitude towards her own identity, her being the object of hate and humiliation stemming from ethnic and religious discrimination and being subjected to forced mass migration conducted by the state as concreted in the name changes again are tackled through her subjective experiences. Also in order to reveal the theoretical base that grounds the text of the work although in lighter nature now because of the still continuing discrimination and assimilation politics against the Muslim Turks in Bulgaria example, which can be considered one of the states that do not provide political, religious ethnic and cultural pluralism, is scrutinized by comparing theethnic nationalist ontology dominated by the modern Cartesian understanding which takes the subjectivity in the center with the Lévinas'contemporary ethical approach which takes the Other in the center.
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