Bárkányi Ildikó szerk.: A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Ethnographica 7. (Szeged, 2011)
Kerekes Ibolya: Török hatások a tápai gyékényszövésben?
Possible Turkish Influences on Bulrush Weaving Tradition in Tápé by IBOLYA KEREKES Tápé and bulrush weaving are strongly connected to each other. The natives of Tápé have been processing bulrush for centuries. The abundant vocabulary of the natives of Tápé reflects how deeply bulrush matting is rooted in their life. In the 20 t h century detailed descriptions were written on the collecting, preparing, weaving and marketing bulrush products. However, little is known about the history of bulrush matting. In the first part of present study, illustrated with some Hungarian examples, the history of bulrush matting is presented. In the second part of the study Turkish parallels of certain techniques preserved in Tápé are provided. Present study aims at revealing the so far not studied roots and origins of bulrush matting in Tápé. Drawing upon archaeological, archival and linguistic data author of present study concludes that Hungarians settling in the Carpathina Basin brought with themselves both the name and the possible processing methods of bulrush. They could possibly gain new knowledge of the plant from the original inhabitants of the Basin. Documents from the Middle Ages reveal that bulrush mats were mostly used as couches by the poor and members of monastic orders. Hungarians had also used bulrush mats as couches already before they settled in the Carpathian Basin. They also used bulrush mats as covers, as rugs, as seats, as dividers, as door-covers, as roof tiles and in preparing the deceased for funeral. Interestingly enough, in the Hungarian language the word for bulrush, the plant, and the word for the artefacts made from it is the same: gyékény. Thus the artefacts made from bulrush had already been in use among the Hungarian population before the Ottoman Empire annexed a part of the territory of the Hungarian Kingdom in 1526. We know little about effects of Turkish handicraft in Hungary. Nonetheless, it is assumed that from the middle of the 16 t h century craftsmen from Turkey and the Balkan region brought their skills with them when settling in the territory occupied by the Turkish Empire. In some respects these new skills had altered completely handicraft techniques used by Hungarian artisans before, also new techniques mixed with old traditional ones. It is rather difficult to reconstruct these interactive processes due to lack of relevant data. Consequently, it is impossible to reveal to what extent Turkish influence affected the way how the inhabitants of Tápé used bulrush as a raw material for making artefacts. Unlike other settlements, Tápé remained an inhabited village throughout the Turkish Occupation. The inhabitants tried to stay in their own village instead of moving into the more protected town of Szeged, which had owned its territory since 1247. In Csongrád county only eight settlements managed to keep their continuity on this previously densely inhabited area. Tápé with its 200 inhabitants was one of them. Due to the effective use of their natural resources the inhabitants of Tápé could survive even in these severe conditions. Their effort was also encouraged by the organizing activity of respected representatives of the community, who managed to adopt their traditional knowledge to ever-changing circumstances. Generations took over community traditions from their predecessors, at the same time feeling responsibility for their descendants. Learned skills, however, could be utilized only if they were adaptable to new social-economic conditions. This was true about bulrush matting as well. The traditional skills handed over from generation to generation helped the survival of the village. Present study aims at throwing light upon the fact that in spite of the distance in space and time, there are several similarities between the traditional bulrush matting techniques preserved in Tápé and the still living and used techniques in present day Turkey. The relatively simple and mostly manual method of bulrush weaving may be traced back to a common basic knowledge. This could be traced back to the period well before the Hungarians settled in the Carpathian Basin and mingled with different Turkish communities. These techniques then met again during the Turkish Occupation of the Hungarian Kingdom to survive in a renewed form. 31
