Nathan Young (The Ohio State University)
The year 2023 will be significant for the Turkish Republic in regard to occurrences anticipated, contingent, and unforeseen. Anticipated: the centennial, in which the motif of “Turkey at One Hundred Years” fuels narratives that (re)interpret history, posit futures, and accumulate power. Contingent: the election, seen by some as the best (and perhaps last) chance to vote out Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party. Unforeseen: the natural calamities in Turkey’s southeast prompt reevaluations of the governmental priorities and the national trajectories. Drawn from fieldwork in progress, this presentation offers vernacular testimony at the intersection of individual memory and national commemoration.
Part of V5-03 Spaces, Places, and Sites of Folklore, Thursday, October 12, 10:30 am–12:30 pm