MAKING a HOME: SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS of DOMESTIC SPACE AMONG the CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX ANTIOCHEANS in ISTANBUL by POLINA-PARTHEN
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MAKING A HOME: SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF DOMESTIC SPACE AMONG THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX ANTIOCHEANS IN ISTANBUL by POLINA-PARTHENA GIOLTZOGLOU Submitted to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabanci University October, 2014 MAKING A HOME: SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF DOMESTIC SPACE AMONG THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX ANTIOCHEANS IN ISTANBUL Approved by: Ayse Parla ………………………. (Thesis Advisor) Banu Karaca ………………………. Yael Navaro-Yashin ………………………. Date of approval: 31.10.2014 © Polina-Parthena Gioltzoglou 2014 All rights Reserved ABSTRACT MAKING A HOME: SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF DOMESTIC SPACE AMONG THE CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX ANTIOCHEANS IN ISTANBUL POLINA- PARTHENA GIOLTZOGLOU M.A. In Cultural Studies, Thesis, 2014 Supervisor: Ayse Parla Keywords: Christian Orthodox Antiocheans, home-making, spatial negotiations, affect, travma, ruination, beautification, non-status minority, muzealization. This research examines instances of everyday life experience, and the process of home-making of a group of Antiochean migrants in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. It fo- cuses on processes of spatial negotiation and transformation, through practices of con- sumption and production involved in the home-making experience. Furthermore, it ex- plores the element of ‘affect' within the context of the political economy and materiality of home-making. The families studied, have been living in houses that belong to the Greek Minority of Istanbul, allocated to them, under the obligation to tend for the adjoined buildings, mainly churches, schools and cemeteries. Inhabiting these conditionally private spaces is therefore interwoven with taking care of a communal/public space. These residences constitute a network of households that link migrant Antiocheans in Istanbul, embed- ding them at the same time as nodes in an expanding, global matrix, including south- east Turkey, Istanbul, Athens, Berlin. However the historicity of these spaces turns them in much more than simply resi- dence, they are defined by power-relations, inclusion opportunities, spatial hierarchies and encounters, and constitute for the Antiocheans both living and working places. This structure creates a canvas where simultaneous, multilayer, processes and per- formances play out. All of these are invested with symbolic and material meaning that constantly renegotiates the boundaries of self and other and along the way redefines both. iv ÖZET BİR EV YAPMAK: İSTANBUL’DAKİ HRİSTİYAN ORTODOKS ANTAKYALILAR’DA EV-İÇİ ALANIN SEMBOLİK TEMSİLLERİ POLINA- PARTHENA GIOLTZOGLOU Kültürel Çalışmalar Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 2014 Tez Danışmanı: Ayse Parla Anahtar Kelimeler: Hristiyan Ortodoks Antakyalılar, ev-yapımı, mekansal müzakere, duygulanım, travma, viranlaştırma, güzelleştirme, statüsüz azınlık, müzeleştirme Bu çalışma Türkiye, İstanbul’daki bir grup Antakyalı göçmenin ev-yapım sürecin- deki gündelik hayat deneyimlerini incelemektedir. Çalışma kapsamında ev-yapım deneyimini içeren, tüketim ve üretim pratikleri doğrultusunda mekansal uzlaşma ve dönüşüm süreçlerine odaklanılacaktır. Buna ek olarak, ev-yapımının politik-ekonomisi ve olgusallığı bağlamında “duygulanım” unsuru incelenecektir. Çalıştığım aileler, çoğunlukla kilise, okul ve mezarlık alanı olan Rum azınlık mülklerinde yaşamaları koşuluyla kendilerine tahsis edilen evlerde hayatlarını sürdürüy- orlar. Bu şartlı özel alanlarda ikamet etmek, kolektif/kamusal bir alana sahip çıkmakla iç içe geçmiştir. Bu meskenler, İstanbul’daki Antakyalı göçmenleri bir aile ağında buluş- tururken, bir yandan da Türkiye’nin güney doğusu, İstanbul, Atina ve Berlin’i birbirine bağlayan geniş bir küresel ağın da düğüm noktasını oluşturmaktadır. Ne var ki, bu mekanların tarihselliği, onları basit meskenler olmaktan çıkartmak- tadır. Güç ilişkileri, içerme olanakları, mekansal hiyerarşiler ve karşılaşmalar ile tanım- lanan bu mekanlar aynı zamanda Antakyalılar’ın yaşam ve çalışma alanlarıdır. Bu ilişki zemini, öyle görülüyor ki, üzerinde çok katmanlı ve eş zamanlı süreçlerin ve perfor- mansların aktif olduğu bir alandır. Bütün bunlar hem kendi ve ötekinin sınırlarını yeniden müzakere eden, hem de karşılıklı olarak birbirini yeniden tanımlayan sembolik ve maddi anlamlarla donatılmıştır. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Assoc.Prof. Ayse Parla for her patience and trust in my success. I would like to thank all three jury members, Prof. Yael- Navaro Yashin, Dr. Banu Karaca and Assoc. Prof. Ayse Parla for our fruitful academic exchanges, their guidance and their feedback on drafts of my thesis. I am particularly indebted to all my interlocutors who opened their houses and hearts and shared their valuable stories. Spending time with them has affected and shaped my life in many ways. Special thanks to Mrs Maria Bardakci, Mrs Maria Yu- murta, Eva Kosker and Can Kosker. I would like to thank with all my heart my family and my friends Niki Christopoulou, Foivos Nomikos, Sean Maliehe, Haris Rigas Giorgos Katsanos, Derya Ozkaya, Erdem Kayserilioglu, Alexandros Kampouris, Irene Iliopoulou, Zeynep Kutlu- ata, for all their help, support and encouragement. Last but not least my special thanks and deep appreciation to my friend Kostas Mantzos who has had to put up with me, but always managed to build me up and sup- port me throughout the period of research and writing. vi Στους Δον Κιχώτες Θωμά και Κώστα Μάντζο “χρώμα δεν αλλάζουνε τα μάτια, μόνο τρόπο να κοιτάνε” vii Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Historical background ................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Paradoxes and legal ambivalence ............................................................................. 7 1.4 Key terms I will be using .......................................................................................... 9 1.5 Significance of research ........................................................................................... 10 1.6 Chapter outline ........................................................................................................ 12 1.7 On terminology ...................................................................................................... 14 1.8 On Methodology and fieldwork .............................................................................. 16 BUILDINGS ................................................................................................................... 25 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 25 2.2 Departures and arrivals: -“Some will find their way and thrive” ............................ 27 2.3 The Faces of the Buildings ...................................................................................... 31 2.3.1 Red Roof in the sky ............................................................................................. 32 2.3.2 School as a mother's face: ..................................................................................... 37 2.3.3 Turkish Hero ......................................................................................................... 42 2.3.4 Prison ................................................................................................................... 44 2.3.5 Punishment ........................................................................................................... 46 2.3.6 Fisherman of Besiktas .......................................................................................... 49 viii 2.4 Summing-up analysis .............................................................................................. 52 GARDENS ..................................................................................................................... 56 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 56 3.2 The faces of the Gardens ......................................................................................... 58 3.2.1 Of wax and wood: ................................................................................................. 58 3.2.2 A joke over death: ................................................................................................. 62 3.2.3 A view to the sea: ................................................................................................ 66 3.2.4 Hen house: tradition or privilege? ........................................................................ 70 3.2.5 Micro-climate insulation: ..................................................................................... 72 3.3 Visitors ..................................................................................................................... 74 3.4 Village in the city ..................................................................................................... 82 3.5 Summing-up analysis: ............................................................................................. 87 SOCIALITIES ................................................................................................................ 91 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................