ABSTRACT

The social-cultural role of the fityan and manuks is probably one of the most significant yet least studied aspects of the subject. The lifestyle of the fityan and the manuks was always criticized. The distinguishing aspect of urban youth coalitions was surely not the purity or the impurity of their morals and conduct, but their social-cultural role. Amidst social-political decentralization and a great variety of religious ideologies, the urban majority of modest means found its way into the social structure and shaped its own cultural identity through the arts. The point is that there was an urban popular artworld, with particular criteria for excellence and taste. The cosmopolitan environment in most cities blurred the demarcation lines between hedonistic urban youth, religious heresies, and brotherhood coalitions. In the case of the youth coalitions, the discrepancy between their mundane-urban culture and the spiritualized projects was translated into a conflict with the establishments.