Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Musikwissenschaft

Dr. Yaprak Melike Uyar

Visiting Scholar

KG 5, Raum 319

Please confirm an appointment for the office hours in advance:

E-Mail: yaprak.melike.uyar[at]hu-berlin.de

 

 

 

Yaprak Melike Uyar is an ethnomusicologist, currently a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Transcultural Musicology, Institute of Musicology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She was previously an Einstein Junior Fellow at the same institution between 2021 and 2024. Her research focuses on jazz and popular musics of Turkey, as well as on sonic theologies and the intersections between music, and spirituality. She received her Ph.D. in Musicology from the Turkish Music State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University with her dissertation “Jazz in Turkey: The Cultural Connotations and the Processes of Localization.” She completed her M.A. in Ethnomusicology at ITU MIAM, where her thesis examined “The Commodification of Whirling Dervish Rituals”. She taught for six years at the Turkish Music State Conservatory, where she offered courses such as History of Popular Music, Jazz Appreciation, History of Turkish Popular Music, and Popular Music Studies. She also served as a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University, teaching History of Jazz and Music and Gender. Her current research explores the spiritual soundscapes of religious communities in Berlin and the political history of Turkish popular music. Her work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, which can be accessed here.

 

Research Interests
  • Music and Spirituality
  • Music and Politics
  • Jazz in Turkey
  • Popular Music of Turkey
  • Musics of Turkey
 
Previous Courses

53450 (SoSe 2022) - Musics of Turkey: Modernization and Hybridity

 

Publications
Journal Articles
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. 2021. “Turkish Disco: At the Crossroads of Pop, Groove, Psychedelia and Anatolia.” Musicologist: An International Journal of Music Studies 5, no. 2: 107–32. https://doi.org/10.33906/musicologist.882808.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike, and S. Karahasanoğlu. 2016. “The Early Performance of Jazz Music in Turkey.” Porte Akademik: Journal of Music & Dance Studies 13: 129–39.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. 2013. “Gender and Performance: Women Musicians of the Jazz Scene of Turkey.” Porte Akademik: Journal of Music & Dance Studies 8: 86–98.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike, and Ş. Ş. Beşiroğlu. 2012. “Recent Representations of the Music of the Mevlevi Order of Sufism.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies 6, no. 2: 137–50.

 

Book chapters
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. Forthcoming. “Free to DIY: Indie Music Scene under Rising Authoritarianism in Turkey.” In Free to Work: Creative Practices and Cultural Labour Across the Arts, edited by Nicholas Gebhardt, Michael Fletcher, and Petter Frost Fadnes. Bristol: Intellect Publishing.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. Forthcoming. “Jazz in Turkey I (1923–1970)” [Türkiye’de Caz Müziği I (1923–1970)]. In Türkiye’de Müziğin Tarihi – Cumhuriyet Dönemi, Cilt I [The History of Music in Turkey – The Republican Era, Volume I], edited by Didem Bayındır. Istanbul: Can Yayınları.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. Forthcoming. “Jazz in Turkey II (1971–2025)” [Türkiye’de Caz Müziği II (1971–2025)]. In Türkiye’de Müziğin Tarihi – Cumhuriyet Dönemi, Cilt III [The History of Music in Turkey – The Republican Era, Volume III], edited by Didem Bayındır. Istanbul: Can Yayınları.
  • Uyar, Yaprak Melike. 2022. “Popular Music: Definitions, Theories, and Current Debates” [Popüler Müzik: Tanımlar, Teoriler ve Güncel Çalışmalar]. In Etnomüzikoloji: Kültürler ve Müzikler, edited by Evrim Hikmet Öğüt and Ulaş Özdemir. Istanbul: İthaki Yayınları.