TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE RITUAL MORPHOLOGIES OF NEVRUZ IN MODERN TÜRKİYE

Date

2026-2-24

Author

Karadoğan, Selen

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Rituals are among the most explicit ways humans build connections with themselves, their communities, and the environment. Among different types of rituals, cyclical rituals once synchronized daily life with natural and communal rhythms. In modern cities, however, these rhythms are disrupted and reconfigured within complex urban conditions, where rituals both shape and are shaped by space. This study examines how urban environments enable, constrain, and transform rituals through the framework of Ritual Morphology, focusing on the interplay of actors, events, spaces, times, and symbols. Nevruz as a centuries-old spring equinox celebration spanning Central Asia to the Middle East, offers a compelling example of ritual continuity and transformation. In Türkiye, and particularly in Istanbul, Nevruz has shifted from rural, cyclical temporalities to state-sanctioned and securitized urban venues, with its meanings continually reinterpreted. Methodologically, the study combines historical document analysis, extensive newspaper archives between 1929-2022 (Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Yeni Akit, Özgür Gündem), parliamentary records, interviews with state, political, and cultural actors, and fieldwork at the 2025 Istanbul/Yenikapı celebration. Findings show a transformation from a diplomatic and folkloric spring festival (1929–1950s), to politicized and securitized events (1980s–1990s), to bifurcated state-led and Kurdish-political performances (2000s), culminating in a politicized stage during and after the 2013 “peace process.” Throughout the history, the morphological components of the Nevruz undergo significant changes. Actors diversify from public to administrative figures and to political parties. Events move from seasonal festivity to administrative ritual to protest, contestation, and scripted political performance. Spaces transitioned from open public spaces to fenced, controlled urban rally grounds. Times retain the March 21 anchor while losing seasonal sacredness and becoming political calendar time. Symbols such as fire, colors, and music persist but their meaning is continually reframed by political agendas. By situating Nevruz within the ritual morphology, the study reveals how urban rituals are continually territorialized and reterritorialized through political interventions, symbolic reframing, and spatial regulation in the contemporary city.

Subject Keywords

Urban Rituals, Ritual Morphology, Nevruz, Territorialization

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118797

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis