Symbolic Cretanness in Mersin and Ayvalik: Assertion of distinctiveness and the need for recognition

2023-8
Nerantzaki, Efpraxia
The present dissertation explores the way the second- and third-generation Cretans in Ayvalik and Mersin relate to their Cretanness today. They are the descendants of Cretan Muslims who were expelled from the island of Crete within the framework of the Lausanne Convention Concerning the Exchange of Populations signed between Turkey and Greece in 1923 or had sought refuge in Anatolia after the withdrawal of the Ottomans from Crete towards the end of the nineteenth century. The study aims to understand the public manifestations of and heightened involvement with Cretanness that have recently been taking place in Turkey, and to explore the relevance of Cretanness in the present. The fieldwork was conducted between 2018 and 2020 in Mersin and Ayvalik and involved a total of 36 semi-structured in-depth interviews and participant observation. The findings were analysed and interpreted drawing on theories and concepts from different strands of ethnicity literature. The thesis argues that Cretanness has been transformed and has acquired a symbolic form, which involves the pursuit of visibility, an intermittent involvement with the origins and the precedence of symbols, the most significant of which is food. Additionally, it is argued that Cretanness today encompasses an affective component, and that it is employed as a basis for asserting distinctiveness and superiority, constructed within the context of contemporary realities. Furthermore, it contends that the visibility aspect of symbolic Cretanness in Mersin parallels a need for recognition, which differentiates the two sites of research and is linked to the distinct contextual factors.
Citation Formats
E. Nerantzaki, “Symbolic Cretanness in Mersin and Ayvalik: Assertion of distinctiveness and the need for recognition,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2023.