Folklore and nationalism in Turkey

Abstract

This study explores the changing nature of the relation between folklore and nationalism by examining three phases of Turkish folkloristics. The first phase begins in the mid-nineteenth century and ends in 1923 with the foundation of the Republic of Turkey upon the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. It marks the Romantic Nationalist period in which Ottoman intellectuals developed an interest in folklore as a new discipline which could help them formulate new means of survival for the decaying Ottoman Empire. The second phase starts with the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 and continues until 1950. This is the nation-building era in modern Turkey, a period illustrating the nationalization of folklore, as the state established several folklore-related institutions and formed its own national folklore repertoire. The third phase covers the period from the mid-fifties till the late eighties. It marks the end of the previous folklore institutions, and the booming of the folk dance movement in urban areas and the concurrent marginalization of other folklore genres. Exploring these three phases of Turkish folkloristics, this study attempts to examine different meanings of the term national, as they emerge in the eve of the nation-building era and in the aftermath of the nation-state's consolidation.

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