Between ethnic group and nation: Mihail Çakir's history of the Gagauz
Date
2021-08
Editor(s)
Advisor
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Instructor
Source Title
East European Politics & Societies
Print ISSN
0888-3254
Electronic ISSN
1533-8371
Publisher
Sage Publications
Volume
35
Issue
3
Pages
638 - 660
Language
English
Type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Abstract
Following the 1918 annexation of Bessarabia to Romania, the Gagauz minority remained disconnected from centers of knowledge because of linguistic and institu tional barriers. In this context, Mihail Çakir, an Orthodox priest of Gagauz origin, manifested a rare capacity of introducing the Gagauz people to Romanian- and Gagauz-speaking audiences through his multilingual work on the history and the cul ture of the Gagauz. This article embarks from Anthony Smith’s work on ethnicity and nation-building and Benedict Anderson’s work on imagined communities to explore Çakir’s two main works and their contribution to the crystallization of Gagauz ethnic identity and its eventual transformation to a national one.