Everyday Resistance in Folk Tales and Ballads: The Case of Ottoman- Turkish Bandits

This article aims to analyze the relationship between the representations of banditry and everyday forms of resistance in the Ottoman-Turkish case. In order to frame the discussion of banditry and everyday resistance, Eric Hobsbawm’s “noble bandit” and James Scott’s “secret transcripts” concepts are employed. This article first and foremost argues that the representations of banditry in folk tales and ballads imply the everyday resistance of the lower classes. In this context, folk tales and ballads on Ottoman-Turkish bandits will be discussed with regard to the everyday resistance of ordinary villagers. The close reading of the bandit tales and ballads shows that the lower classes refrain from engaging an open class struggle, while resorting to secret ways of rebellion. The anonymous character of the bandit tales and ballads is the most prominent feature of the implicit resistance of the riskaverse lower classes. In addition, the mythical features such as heroism, invincibility and immortality attributed to the Turkish bandits in folk tales and ballads disclose how the lower classes honor their implicit resistance. The fact that the bandit narratives have more than one version and are reproduced through oral tradition indicate that the everyday resistance imprint the imaginations of ordinary people.