Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T18:36:11.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

National Events and the Struggle for the Fixing of Meaning: A Comparison of the Symbolic Dimensions of the Funeral Services for Atatürk and ÖZal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Günter Seufert  and
Petra Weyland
Günter Seufert
Affiliation:
Orient Institute, Istanbul
Petra Weyland
Affiliation:
Orient Institute, Istanbul
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On April 17, 1993 the Turkish President, Turgut Özal, suddenly died, leaving the Turkish nation in a state of shock and mourning. This situation lasted for almost a week, a time full of nationwide, activities in preparation for the final services which eventually were to culminate in the state funeral. It was only after this that Turkish society returned to normal everyday life, to watch its politicians haggling over Özal's political heritage. As outsiders to Turkish society living in Istanbul at that time we became participant observers of this atmosphere of rising collective solemnity. It was the symbolic dimension of the funeral preparations and the final services which principally aroused our interest, and these are, therefore, the main reason and focus of this article. As festivities always have a reference to the self-understanding of a community or a nation, we analyzed those images and signs which reached us through reading newspapers, watching TV, listening to the radio and the people, and through personal participation in the funeral service in Istanbul. Insofar as we conceptualized Özal's funeral as a collective ceremony that both mirrored and created this society's self representation, our focus gradually broadened. Proceeding on the assumption that the comparison of two similar events at different historical moments of a society will allow us to get an insight into the development of a society’s self understanding over time, we have chosen the funerals services for Mustafa Kemal, the founder of the republic, as just such a point of reference. This will give us an insight into the development of Turkey’s great political tradition, or, more precisely, into the changing construction of national identity on the part of the political elite. In choosing the funeral service of Kemal Atatürk as such a point of comparison we do so first of all because until today Turkish state and society have been deeply characterized by and identified with this leader's legacy, and consequently any change can only be measured by taking Kemalism as a point of reference.

Type
Articles
Information
New Perspectives on Turkey , Volume 11 , fall 1994 , pp. 71 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmad, F. 1991. Politics and Islam in Modern Turkey. IJMES 27/1, 3-21.Google Scholar
Algar, H. 1984. “Der Naksibendi-Orden in der republikanischen Türkei.” M. Jahrbuch zur Geschichte und Gesellschaft des Vorderen und Mittleren Orient. Blaschke, J. von Bruinissen, Berlin Google Scholar
Baloğju, Z. 1990. Türkiye'de Eğitim: Sorunlar ve Değişme Yapιsal Uyum Önerileri. Istanbul: TÜSIAD Google Scholar
Basım, N. 1992. “Diyanet Özelleşiyor”, Aktüel 48-50.Google Scholar
Çakιr, R. 1991 Ayet ve Slogan. Istanbul: Metis. Third edition.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. 1971. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Faroqhi, S. 1987. Men of Modest Substances: House Owners and House Property in 17th Century Ankara and Kayseri. Cambridge: CUP.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gülalp, H. 1991. “Türkiye'nin Kapitalist Gelişiminde Ulusal Kimliğe Karşι Dinci Kimlik, Toplum ve Bilim. 51/52 (summer/winter) 155-159 Google Scholar
Güngör, E. 1989. Türk Kültürü ve Milliyetçilik. Istanbul: Ötüken.Google Scholar
Ansiklopedısi îslam. 1965. “Atatürk” Vol. 1, p.719-807. Istanbul.Google Scholar
İsmet, İ. G. 1993. “Who really controls the Kurdish Hezbollah?” Turkish Daily News, 7.9.1993, p. 3.Google Scholar
Keyder, Ç. 1987. State and Class in Turkey. A study in Capitalist Development. London, New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Keyder, Ç. and Öncü, A. 1993. Istanbul and the Concept of World Cities. Istanbul: Friedrich Ebert Foundation.Google Scholar
Keyder, Ç. and Öncü, A. 1984. “Afghanistan”, Der Islam in der Gegenwart. Ende, W. and Steinbach, U. München: Beck.Google Scholar
Khalid, D. 1984. “Pakistan und Bangladesch”, Der Islam in der Gegenwart. Ende, W. and Steinbach, U. München: Beck.Google Scholar
Küper-Başgöl, S. 1992. Frauen in der Türkei zwischen Feminismus und Reislamisierung. Münster/Hamburg: Lit.Google Scholar
Landau, J. 1981. Panturkism in Turkey. A Study of Irredentism. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Lewis, B. 1961. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. London: Oxford UP.Google Scholar
Luckmann, Th. 1991. Die unsichtbare Religion. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Mardin, S. 1989. Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey. The Case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi. New York: State University of New York.Google Scholar
Mardin, S. 1991. “The Nakshibendi Order in Turkish History,” in Tapper, R.L., ed., Islam in Modern Turkey. Religion, Politics and, Literatur in a Secular State. London, New York: Tauris.Google Scholar
Sarıbay, A. Y. 1985. “Türkiye'de Siyasal Modernleşme ve İslam.” Toplum ve Bilim 29/30, pp. 45-64.Google Scholar
Sarıbay, A. Y. 1985. Türkiye'de modernleşme din ve parti politikasi: MSP őrnek olayi. Istanbul: Alan.Google Scholar
Shaw, S.J. and Shaw, E. K. 1977. “Reform, Revolution, and Republic,” History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol II: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Toprak, B. 1981. Islam and Political Development in Turkey. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Volkan, V.D. and Itzkowitz, N. 1984. The Immortal Atatürk. A Psychobiography. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar