Spaces of conflict: Memory, musealization and heterotopiain the city of Sivas, Turkey

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Sosyoloji Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Öğrenci: PINAR KARABABA KAYALIGİL

Danışman: HELGA İDA RİTTERSBERGER

Özet:

The thesis concentrates on how different groups of people challenge the practices of musealization which changes the signification of monuments in a city and bring a conservative lifestyle by the use of memorial material. The area of research is selected as the center of Sivas, an area which has strict claims of representing a Sunni, Turkish identity even though the mentioned identity is not shared by the entire population of the city. While memory is analyzed in this thesis over its utilization by collectivities to emphasize their existence spatially, heterotopia, therefore spaces of the others, are discussed as the main form of spatial opposition produced by different groups of people. For the purpose of this thesis, musealization, the use of memory and heterotopia take place as the main elements to discuss how the space is constructed to regulate collectivities and how collectivities appropriate space against the domination of authorities.