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Chapulling (Turkish: çapuling) is
a neologism originating in the
2013 protests in Turkey, coined
from Prime Minister Erdoğan's
use of the term çapulcu (roughly
translated to "looters"[1]) to
describe the protestors.
Pronounced /t͡ʃapuɫd͡ʒu/[2] in
Turkish, çapulcu was rapidly
reappropriated by the protestors,
both in its original form and as
the anglicized chapuller and
additionally verbified chapulling,
given the meaning of "fighting
for your rights".[1] Chapulling
has been used in Turkish both in
its English form and in the hybrid
word form çapuling.
The word quickly caught on,
adopted by the demonstrators
and online activists, and became
a viral video.[3] Many took the
concept further by integrating
the unique nature of the
demonstrations and defined it as
"to act towards taking the
democracy of a nation to the
next step by reminding
governments of their reason for
existence in a peaceful and
humorous manner." [4]
Variations of chapulling were
also coined for other
languages
BACKGROUND;
The Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan said during a speech on
2 June 2013, referring to the
protesters:
We cannot just watch some
çapulcu inciting our people. [...]
Yes, we will also build a mosque.
I do not need permission for
this; neither from the head of
the Republican People's Party
(CHP) nor from a few çapulcu. I
took permission from the fifty
percent of the citizens who
elected us as the governing
party.[6][7][8][9]
Pronounced "cha-pul-ju" in
Turkish, the traditional meaning
of çapulcu has been rendered in
English in a variety of ways,
including "looters", "vandals",[1]
"marauders",[10] "bums",[11]
and "riffraff"
Reappropriation:
The protesters quickly decided to
reappropriate the term, and
began to describe themselves as
çapulcu.[13][14] Within days, the
usually negative term was being
used as a positive term of self-
identification. International
supporters of the Gezi Park
events posted social media
photos of themselves holding
messages of "I'm a chapuller as
well" in their own languages. The
movement was supported by the
linguist and political critic Noam
Chomsky,[15] who defined
himself as a chapuller, recording
the message that "everywhere is
Taksim, everywhere is
resistance".[16][17] Cem Boyner,
Chairman of Boyner Holding, also
supported the movement by
holding a banner saying "I'm
neither rightist nor leftist, I am a
chapuller."[18] The word became
widely used on social
networking sites, with Facebook
users update their statuses to
say that they were "capulling",
and T-shirts and banners were
produced with chapulling
slogans,[16] and a Ustream-
based live stream from Gezi Park
was launched under the name
Çapul TV .19] ]
It was reported that the Turkish
Language Association (the
language regulator for the
Turkish language) had changed
the description of "çapulcu" in
their online dictionary to mean
"rebel" instead of its traditional
meaning, "looter", in response to
the events,[20] but the
Association said this was not the
case.[21] One online Turkish-
English dictionary, Zargan,
adopted the new word
chapulling in what Agence
France Presse described as "a
gesture of solidarity with the
demonstrators".[1] It was also
added to the Tureng dictionary
and Urban Dictionary.[22][23]
By 8 June the Turkish Patent
Institute had received 16
applications for çapulcu-related
trademarks, covering items such
as toilet paper, drinks, and a
newspaper.
Chapulling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2013 protests in Turkey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
