Turkish Alevi Poetry in the Twentieth Century: The Fusion of Political and Religious Identities (original) (raw)
Related papers
The emergence of Alevism as an ethno-religious identity
National Identities, 2017
Alevism has been regarded as a contested identity which is difficult to define because of its 'syncretic' character. Attempts at definition have been overwhelmed by essentialist approaches as well as different political agendas since the fifteenth-century Ottoman period. This paper aims to trace the history of Alevism with a particular focus on historical sources such as the Velāyetnāmes and the organization of ocaks and dergahs. The paper argues that we shall see Alevism as an ethno-religious identity which is formed under different social conditions and emerged through the complexities of the organization of ocaks in a vast territory encompassing different ethnic groups.
Mesopotamian Agency, 2022
The main problems that the Turkish nation-state is obliged to face, but persistently postpone, are growing like a "snowball" day by day. The Kurdish issue, the Armenian Genocide, the Alevi question are among these kind of problems. The only method used by the nation-state in 100 years was "indoctrination". This policy almost created a "conglomeration". Turkish state has ignored the fact that these lands are multi-coloured. One of these colors is undoubtedly Alevis. They were deemed “worthy” of many adjectives such as faithless, denier, sinner by the hegemony, and were subjected to plenty of massacres. However, they never took a step back from the struggle for equal citizenship. They are now waiting for a new paradigm to be built and a democratic system to be established. History, practices and theological structure of Alevism undoubtedly have drawn the attention of many researchers from abroad. One of these researchers, Assoc. Dr. Daria Zhigulskaya has been conducting her scholarly studies in the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University in Russia. She also wrote the book entitled “The Alevis of Turkey”. I talked to Daria Zhigulskaya about Alevism.
Studies on Iran and The Caucasus
This paper is an attempt at exploring different interpretations of Alevism and Alevi identities, having emerged as a result of rapid and large-wave migrations, particulalry from 1960 onwards, from the countryside to the urban centres of Turkey. Those Alevis, who had become more and more isolated from the larger Alevi community and each other, ended up divided into different religious and ideological sects. Emergence of various Alevi associations and foundations proved unable to prevent such disintegration. On the contrary, it was the newly established Alevi institutions, emerging upon different bases, which actually heterogenised the Alevi phenomenon. Today, each Alevi institution in fact promotes its own particular perception of Alevism; the latter may even vary among family members. Therefore, it will be more accurate to speak of Alevi identities rather than of a single, unified Alevi identity in today’s Turkey.
Understanding Current Alevism: A Field Research in Ankara, Turkey
Espergesia: Literature and Research Journal, 2022
Comprender el alevismo actual: una investigación de campo en Ankara, Turquía Hülya Doğan Elibüyük 1 Resumen: Anthropology is a discipline that attempts to understand the human condition epistemologically. Concepts such as ethnicity or identity keep framing these studies. Alevism is one of those which is called ethnoreligious. However, Alevism has assumed different meanings according to regions and countries in the historical process. Discussions about what Alevism is have increased, especially in recent years. Different sources feed these discussions. Against the insistence on defining Alevism within the borders determined by the governments in Turkey and the discourse that ignores social diversity in general, Alevism feels the need to return to its resources, especially the historical and sociological studies of Alevi intellectuals, to seek a solution to this identity crisis. On the other hand, the organized Alevi movement, which has achieved various gains in Europe, expresses more confidently their demands for the rights of Alevis in Turkey, and they are also on the agenda in the country from time to time. The participants are Turks who do not have connections with Alevi organizations, do not have access to written sources of Alevism, and whose socialization spaces are usually their village associations in the city. Although their views sometimes show parallelism with the studies that seek the "essence/history" of Alevism, they also create unique ways of conveying the principles and philosophy of their beliefs and diversify their interpretations of Alevism. These interpretations sometimes have features that stretch the boundaries of traditional discourses.
Can the Alevis Speak? The Politics of Representation in Early Writings on Alevism
Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
This study historicizes and contextualizes the contrasting representations of Alevism in the early writings of Stephen van Rensselaer Trowbridge, a Protestant missionary, and Baha Said Bey, a Turkish activist and researcher. Both Trowbridge and Baha Said undertook extensive research on Alevi culture in the early twentieth century. Though their works appear to be “benevolent” endeavors, giving voice to the Alevi subaltern, by first studying the political and cultural backgrounds of Trowbridge and Baha Said, this article exposes the cultural and ideological motivations that influenced their studies. It then focuses on how these political concerns are expressed in representations of Alevism. Given the dearth of postcolonial and critical perspectives on Alevism, investigating the praxis of representation can help trace overtly political concerns beyond their scholarly treatments. Based on Gayatri Spivak’s theorization in her essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?,” this paper scrutinizes how these writings negate the agency of Alevis and portray them as waiting for salvation by external proxies – be they Western missionaries or the Turkish government.