An Orientation Towards Urban Culture: The Place of Market Vendor Folklore in the Urban Culture of Trabzon

Abstract

Urban history, urban architecture, urban archeology and art history have been among the subjects that were given priority in urban cultural studies focusing on Turkey. Cultural creation and transmission groups and environments that are essential components of urban folklore have not been given the same priority. It is an obvious fact that all components of urban identity and city dwellers need to be taken account in general urban culture studies. As important as tangible urban cultural components, the everyday lives social groups, production and marketing methods, partly ritualistic practices, informal rules, memorial and shared spaces, jargons and secret codes, beliefs and nicknames should be evaluated in a holistic perspective. The urban studies in Western and Northern Europe and in North America have been taking these issues into account in meticulous ways. The urban marketplaces provide venues as cultural scenes in urban landscapes where colorful practices come into being with active participation of various social classes and groups that are the agents of urban culture. This study subjects the cultural memory of market vendors and their folk practices in Trabzon. Trabzon is one of the most important urban centers of Eastern Black Sea region where oral culture is peculiar. The marketplaces and vendors of Trabzon have kept their continuity in harmony with the rapidly changing socio-cultural and socio-economic structure. The folk elements, which were created and practiced by the market vendors in their professional lives were recorded by observation and interviews during field study and evaluated in their relation with and impact upon the urban culture. It was concluded that the marketplaces, which have been among the dynamic venues of the urban culture continue to represent the occupational rules, beliefs, communication techniques, behavior patterns and jargons in a rich content.