Nathan Young (The Ohio State University)
The year 2023 marks the centennial of the Turkish Republic. During this year, citizens will leverage personages, places, and cultural artifacts as discursive strategies to delineate “essential” notions of ethno-national identity. Through interviews and participant observation, I examine which people are recognized, which spaces are revered or chosen as host sites, and which historical events are emphasized. Corporate and individual narratives will undoubtedly be suffused with nostalgia. I evaluate such discourses through lenses of nostalgia theory and memory studies. In this presentation, I share observations to date, profile next steps for completing the project, and invite input from attendees. Extra time has been requested at the end of this short paper for discussion and feedback on this in-progress project.
Part of 09-10 Place and Memory, Saturday, October 15, 2:30 pm–4:30 pm