Fevk-ül Adâlet

October 13, 2012 1:02 PM

Berk Senturk presents "Ottoman was Geeky", a collection of reinterpreted pop culture characters.
posted by griphus (8 comments total)

The Justice League one is great, but the characters become less recognizable toward the bottom of the page. I wish I knew the style he's adopting here.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 2:07 PM on October 13, 2012

"In this country, you gotta make the kuruş first. Then, when you get the kuruş, you get the power. Then when you get the power, you get the lavender-flavored jellies. Then, when you get the lavender flavored jellies, you get the honeyed pastries and the coffee with cardamom in it. Then when you get the honeyed pastries and the coffee with cardamom in it, you get the women."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:09 PM on October 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Mr Şentürk's rendition of Martian Manhunter (or Merihi Sayyad-ı Beşer, which is a pretty clever pseudo-Ottoman Turkish wordplay) looks a lot like Gulyabani ('ghoul' in Turkish) from the film Süt Kardeşler [The Foster Brothers (1976)] — see this screen capture of Gulyabani and this behind-the-scenes photograph for comparison. I can't quite pinpoint possible references in other portraits, however.
posted by cihan at 2:20 PM on October 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Do you think you can translate the other ones? I tried running the Justice League one through Google Translate but didn't really get anything cogent.
posted by griphus at 2:40 PM on October 13, 2012

Flash as Berk -- if that's the Wally West Flash, it fits.
posted by MartinWisse at 3:33 PM on October 13, 2012

• Justice League: Fevc-ül Adâlet — fevc roughly translates to horde; -ül = of, and adâlet (used as adalet in modern, every-day Turkish). Accurate and straight-forward translation.
• Superman: Faik-i Adem — faik, the equivalent of the word fevk, both translate to über/wonder; -i = of, and adem means man (Adam = Adem, also).
• Batman: Sepbere-i Adem — sepbere should be şeppere; which obviously means bat.
• Wonder Woman: Hârika Avret — hârika is still used as harika in everyday Turkish, meaning wonderful. Avret, I believe, is misspelt because avret means 'nether region'. The correct word would be avrat, which is what you would call a woman in old Turkish (its modern equivalent is kadın).
• Flash: Berk — this one made me laugh. And yes, it is very accurate; berk (also a common given name for boys) actually means lightning. Well-played, Berk Şentürk.
• Green Lantern: Fanus-u Ahdar — fanus = lantern; ahdar (Arabic) = lush. Fanus is widely used to refer to bell jar nowadays, whilst ahdar is never really used.
• Aquaman: Ab-ı Adem — ab (or âb, Farsi) = water. 'The man made of water', literally.
• Martian Manhunter: Merihi Sayyad-ı Beser (Merihî Sayyad-ı Beşer, if properly spelt) — merih = Mars, merihî = Marsian; sayyad (Ottoman) = hunter; beşer = human/man/mankind. Loved this one, well-thought.
• The Joker: Bezlegû — Ottoman Turkish/Arabic/Farsi, literally joker/jester; soytarı in modern Turkish. Very fitting.
• The Hulk: Cüsam — Ottoman Turkish: big/large. Cüsse is still used in Turkish, meaning bulk. This one is pretty funny because it sounds a lot like the nickname Hüsam which is given to people named Hüsamettin.
• Han Solo & Chewbacca: Solo Han & Koca Oğlan — Han = Khan. Koca Oğlan = Big Boy.
• Léon & Mathilda: Lemi & Mahmure — both are normally unrelated but sound-a-like, old-fashioned Turkish names.
• Gandalf & Frodo: Câdûger & Kâsır — (both Ottoman Turkish) Câdûger = magician. Kâsır = short, puny.
• Blues Brothers: Mûsikisinas Biladerler (correctly spelt as Mûsikîşinas Biraderler) — Mûsikî = music; -şinas = lover; birader = brother. Literally, 'music-loving brothers'.
• Scarface: Çehre-i Mecrûh — Çehre = face. Mecrûh = hurt. Hurtface! Heh.
• Taxi Driver: Hammal — spelt as hamal in Turkish, which means porter. As the concept of taxi never really existed during the Ottoman era, hamal is a good equivalent; though modern day hamals only carry heavy stuff, not people.
• Grease: Raks — raks (old Turkish) = dance.

posted by cihan at 3:52 PM on October 13, 2012 [13 favorites]

You are awesome.
posted by griphus at 3:54 PM on October 13, 2012

I was underwhelmed until the Blues Brothers, and then upon scrolling back up had apparently been convinced as to the brilliance of all of them.
posted by Mizu at 5:43 PM on October 13, 2012