Rural anchors of Circassian diaspora: identity in the Circassian villages of Sinop

Abstract

This thesis investigates how rural diasporic identities are formed, maintained, and transformed among the Circassian communities in Sinop Province, focusing on their daily practices, family narratives, visual materials, and village-level dynamics. In addition, it also aims to demonstrate the transition from a traditional diasporic identity to a modern nationalistic one in rural spaces, mainly through visual manifestations. Built on the existing literature in diaspora studies, this thesis proposes a broad working definition of diaspora as a concept that encompasses three main analytical dimensions: varying levels of organization, orientation towards the homeland, and practices of belonging and difference. Thus, the thesis employs a qualitative research method, in which ten villages in Sinop Province were visited, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with multiple individuals of Circassian descent. The data derived from the interviews, combined with the participant observations in the field, are analyzed through thematic analysis based on the working definition of diaspora. Consequently, the villages cannot be generalized as a whole, as less organized villages in terms of formal institutions show more practice-based, traditional roots for the rural diasporic identity, whereas villages with mid- to high levels of formal organizational ties show a transition towards a modern diasporic identity. The overall findings suggest that the Circassian communities in Sinop Province are not passive transmitters of traditions and habits; rather, they are an active group in which a traditional, practice-based Circassian identity is gradually and partially emerging as a modern, ideological, and nationalist diasporic one.