‘Mediating Cultural Capital’ In-Between Dominant/Non-Dominant Cultural Capital: A Case of Mısırlı Ahmet

The goal of this paper is to explain how musicians posit their music practices from ‘low’ status, which is defined by social disposition, to ‘high’ status. However, cultural signals, which cultural capital contains, can be gained by people to posit themselves from ‘lower’ status to ‘higher’ status. In this context, even though cultural capital represents high-status cultural signals, this concept is operated in ‘non-dominant’ groups as well as ‘dominant’ groups. In the circumstances, specific agents — who may be called cultural intermediaries — that have competence in both 'low'and 'higher' culture emerge in the process of mediating cultural capital. Thus, mediating cultural capital occurs in between 'high' and 'low' culture where reproduction of cultural capital can be seen through cultural intermediaries. In this context, Misirli Ahmet applies for mediating cultural capital to situate his music practice to 'upper' level by developing new techniques and playing wide range of music styles. Keywords: Cultural Capital, Cultural Intermediaries, Mediating Cultural Capital, Misirli Ahmet, Darbuka. Baskin/Baskin Olmayan Kulturel Sermaye Arasinda ‘Araci Kulturel Sermaye’: Misirli Ahmet Ornek Olayi Ozet Bu makalenin amaci muzisyenlerin kendi muzik pratiklerini toplumsal egilim tarafindan tanimlanan ‘dusuk’ konumdan ‘yuksek’ statuye nasil konumlandirdiklarini aciklamaktir. Bununla birlikte kulturel sermayenin icerdigi kulturel isaretler, insanlar tarafindan kendilerini ‘dusuk’ konumdan ‘yuksek’ konuma konumlandirmak icin kazanilabilir. Bu baglamda kulturel sermaye, yuksek statudeki kulturel isaretleri temsil etmesine ragmen bu kavram baskin gruplarin yani sira baskin olmayan gruplarda da isletilir. Bu kosullar altinda hem ‘dusuk’ hem de ‘yuksek’ kulturde yeterliliklere sahip, kultur aracilari olarak adlandirilabilecek belirli aktorler araci kulturel sermaye surecinde ortaya cikarlar. Boylelikle araci kulturel sermaye, yeniden uretimin kultur aracilari sayesinde gorunebildigi ‘yuksek’ ve ‘dusuk’ kulturler arasinda meydana gelir. Bu baglamda, Misirli Ahmet yeni teknikler gelistirerek ve genis aralikta muzik tarzlarini icra ederek kendi muzik pratigini 'yuksek' seviyeye konumlandirmak icin araci kulturel sermayeye basvurur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kulturel Sermaye, Kultur Aracilari, Araci Kulturel Sermaye, Misirli Ahmet, Darbuka.