The Rebirth Politics and the Sources of Turkist Cultural Construction

Abstract

Nationalism is multifaceted as a symbol, both as a matter of social relations and as a category of consciousness. Defining national communities in terms by which they have been imagined or constructed does not mean that they are unrealistic or imaginary. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the rise of eastern European nationalist initiatives that sought to catch up with the nation building of advanced Western countries and construct their own ideological and bureaucratic organizations accordingly. These efforts were motivated by public debates over culturalism that emphasized discovering the worth of one's own culture and returning to the roots/essence. The key feature that distinguishes national identity from other identities is its guarantee of an honorable status to every citizen politically and socially. This quality of nationalism has facilitated its global spread over the last two centuries and allowed it to maintain its strength in the face of different economic interests. This same desire and motivation to pursue the discovery of one's cultural essence has played a significant role in Turkish ideological construction. Consequently, intellectuals have been strongly motivated to defend the existence of a new and unique Turkish-Muslim identity against the Western/civilized world. Thus, Turkology studies, particularly as applied to Turkey, have not only provided a framework for the national history of societies but have also legitimized the national-cultural struggle through foreign scholarship. © 2022 Istanbul Universitesi. All rights reserved.