OBJECTS ON THE MOVE TYING EMOTIONAL BONDS: A CASE OF SYRIAN TURKMEN'S BATTALNÂME

Authors : Selçuk Gündüz

Pages : 87-96

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Publication Date : 2023-12-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Migration is an experience of absence, and in this experience, immigrants replace the meanings they left behind with objects, and relate to them. In this sense, objects affect the way immigrants relate to the world by arousing emotions and are therefore emotional agencies. This study focuses on a Battalnâme, which was brought by a Syrian Turkmen from his homeland. Not only the story of the Battalnâme’s arrival to Turkey, but also the centuries-old history of Battalnâme, constitutes a different meaning from other migration objects. First of all, it has been passed down from generation to generation and is a carrier of tradition. In this form, the Battalnâme also has a social life, and the cultural practices and traditions that develop around it are important for immigrant identity. As such, the Battalnâme exemplifies the relationships that immigrants establish with objects and shows how objects in return reshape their identities in a new location far from their homeland.
Keywords : Objects, material culture, emotions, affect, Battalnâme, migration, Syria, Turkmen, memory