KÜLTÜREL KİMLİK İNŞASI VE BELLEK: ANTAKYALI ORTODOKS HRİSTİYAN KADINLAR VE GENÇLER

Abstract

Antakya (Hatay), renowned as the “city of tolerance,” is a cosmopolitan border city in which diverse ethnic and religious communities coexist. Antakya’s historic community of Greek Orthodox Christians, who pray in Arabic, is struggling for cultural survival, largely due to a decreasing population as a result of emigration and the current social problems they are experiencing. This study aims to explicate the construction of ethno-religious identity among these Orthodox Christians and the ways in which they narrate and transmit cultural memory through women and youth in everyday life. Through an ethnographic account with participant observation and in-depth interviews, this research focuses on two main questions. First, how do Orthodox Christians in Antakya define and transmit their ethno-religious identities and cultures? Second, what are the forms of narration of cultural memory, particularly for women and youth? Drawing on theories of cultural memory and ethnic boundaries, this research delves into the roles of women in terms of remembering and memory and the transmission of cultural memory to young people by analyzing religious rituals, the culture of naming, inheritance practices, and mixed marriages. To achieve this, 48 in-depth interviews, 4 focus-group interviews and ethnographic study were conducted in the municipalities of Antakya, Altınözü, Arsuz, İskenderun, and Samandağ between April 2016 and December 2021. The study concludes that Orthodox Christians in Antakya perceive women and youth as the main subjects of cultural transmission despite the social changes taking place in modern everyday life.