THE EFFECTS OF MODERN POLITICAL MOVEMENTS ON CULTURAL IDENTITY: THE CASE OF RITES OF PASSAGE IN TÜRKİYE

Abstract

An analogy is often established between the concepts of cultural change and cultural transformation. The forms represented by innovations that allow a concrete follow-up of culture in folk life can arise through change and transformation. The connection established between these two concepts is limited to new representation forms. Apart from this limited cooperation, cultural change often takes place in a balanced and harmonious manner without any obligations. Cultural transformation refers to a fragile process in which the individual or the community is forced to accept, often through the manipulation of the powerful, the elements such as history, origins, and sense of belonging in order to create an identity. Political identities and ideologies that affect the natural course of social and cultural change in Turkish sociology and culture have become dominant since the 2000s. The rich diversity of birth, marriage and funeral ceremonies contains important findings for understanding the arguments that affect the transformation of folk life and culture. This article discusses the impact of Islamist and secular ideologies and groups on the structural and functional transformations observed in rites of passage in Turkish folk life. The study argues that the roles of conflicting socio-political identities in the processes of reinterpretation and representation of folkloric knowledge are more pronounced than in the past. Data obtained with ethnographic research techniques also support this claim. The qualitative field research was conducted within the constraints of ritualistic traditional ceremonies of birth, marriage and death in urban and rural communities in western Türkiye.