Culture
and Turkey:
Post #7
Culture is defined
by our textbook as, “learned and shared behavior by a group of people that
gives them a distinct ‘way of life.’ ”[1] It
consists of a shared history of knowledge and traditions that gives a group of
people a sense of unity and identity, and as such its importance to a nation’s
coherence can not be stressed enough.
Turkey has a
unique cultural landscape, due to its intensely varied physical terrain,
which ranges from mountains and steppes to lush coastlines and inhospitable
desserts. Due to its geographical terrain, Turkey has had a long history of
farming and pastoralism, but due to increasing globalization it has become an
increasingly modern nation, with now nearly 70% of its population living in
urban areas. [2]
Figure 1. A map showing Turkey when a part of the Ottoman Empire.
Cultural
imperialism, or “the active promotion of one cultural system at the expense of
another”,[3] is most certainly not an unknown concept to
the country of Turkey. The most famous example of cultural imperialism would be
Turkey being a part of the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1923. After the more than 600
years of cultural indoctrination that entailed, Turkey would become an
independent state, but still heavily influenced by Ottoman rule, most visibly
in their adherence to the Islamic religion.
Figure 2. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of of the Republic of Turkey.
Concerning the oppositional force
against cultural imperialism, known as cultural nationalism, Turkey had an
especially potent form of it following its national independence. Kemalism was
created by the founder of the Republic
of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk. It was intended to give the people a voice through a parliament, and
stressed liberalism and democracy, but eventually this potentially promising
creed was defeated by the rise of fascism, as well as adherence to Ottomanism.[4]
With
cultural syncretism or hybridization being a amalgamation of two cultures to
create a new one, the most obvious example of such in Turkey would be their
many customs and traditions they have taken from Ottoman rule. Not the least of
which most definitive imports being the adoption of the Islamic faith, which can touch every part of day to day life in Turkey.
Works
Cited
Ahmad, Feroz. The Making of
Modern Turkey. London: Routledge, 1993. 61. Print.
Rowntree, Lester. Globalization
and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall,
2014. G-3. Print.
"Turkey: People and Society." Encyclopedia
of Earth. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/172904/>.
Figure 1. Turkey Map. Digital image. Allaboutturkey.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.allaboutturkey.com/img/ottoman-empire-1580.gif>.
Figure 2. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Digital image. Turkeytourkey.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://www.turkeytourkey.com/upload/inquiry/blog/Mustafa_Kemal_Ataturk_.jpg>.
[1] Rowntree,
Lester. Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World. 4th
ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2014. G-3.
[2] "Turkey:
People and Society." Encyclopedia of
Earth. Web.
[3]
Rowntree, 27.
[4] Ahmad,
Feroz. The Making of Modern Turkey.
London:
Routledge, 1993. 61.
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