HOPA HEMSINLIS: HISTORY, LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY This thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Cultural Studies by Neşe Kaya Sabancı University August 2014 © Neşe Kaya 2014 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT HOPA HEMSINLIS: HISTORY, LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY Neşe Kaya Cultural Studies, MA, 2014 Thesis Advisor: Leyla Neyzi This thesis aims at studying with the Homşetsnak/Hemşince speaking Hopa Hemşinlis with a focus on their history, language, culture, and ethnic identity with the use of ethnographic data and oral history interviews. My analysis focuses on how Hopa Hemşinlis construct their past at the present, as well as the already existing studies on Hemşin history within a discussion of history writing in general. This study also describes the history of Hemşince focusing on the language ideologies held by Hopa Hemşinlis in addition to the processes having impact on the use of Hemşince. In this study, it is depicted that Hemşin history and language are resorted as sites for ethnic identity negotiations and discussions by researchers as well as Hopa Hemşinlis. Although there have been endeavors to attain Turkish and Armenian origins to Hopa Hemşinlis, which still continue today, Hopa Hemşinlis exhibit a strong sense of Hemşinli identity. Keywords: Hopa Hemşinlis, Hemşin history, Hemşince, language ideologies, ethnic identity. IV ÖZET HOPA HEMŞİNLİLERİ: TARİH, DİL VE KİMLİK Neşe Kaya Kültürel Çalışmalar MA, 2014 Tez Danışmanı: Leyla Neyzi Bu tez, Hemşince konuşan Hopalı Hemşinlilerin tarihini, dilini, kültürünü ve etnik kimliklerini etnografik veri ve sözlü tarih mülakatları kullanarak onlarla birlikte çalışmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda Hemşincenin kullanımını etkileyen süreçlerin yanı sıra Hopalı Hemşinlilerin sahip olduğu dil ideolojilerine odaklanarak Hemşincenin tarihini anlatmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Hemşin tarihi ve dilinin hem araştırmacılar hem de Hopalı Hemşinliler tarafından kimlik kurulumları ve tartışmaları için başvuru kaynağı olduğu gösterilmektedir. Hopalı Hemşinlilerin kökenini Türklüğe ve Ermeniliğe dayandırmaya yönelik günümüzde de devam eden çabalar olsa da Hopalı Hemşinliler Hemşinli kimliğine güçlü bir bağlılık gösteriyorlar. Anahtar sözcükler: Hopalı Hemşinliler, Hemşin tarihi, Hemşince, dil ideolojileri, etnik kimlik V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was written with invaluable support and contribution of those who have been with me in the process of the study. To begin with, I am grateful to my thesis advisor Leyla Neyzi from whom I learned a lot both before and after she accepted to supervise my research process. She has been a great advisor always standing by me, encouraging me at every step to write this thesis, and enriching it with her invaluable comments and feedback. I am indebted to Eva Marie Dubuisson who contributed to this thesis with her insightful observations and comments. I will never forget her eagerness to support me whenever I asked for help. I am also thankful to Meltem Ahıska for her unique comments and feedback, which enriched my thesis. I cannot express how much I am indebted to the Hopa Hemşinlis who shared their knowledge with me and who without hesitation helped me at every step of my research. I would like to thank them all without whom I would never be able to do this research. I would like to thank Ilden and her amazing mother Gönüle who always supported me during the whole process of this research. I am also grateful to Mahir Özkan and Sevgi Özkan who shared their insightful knowledge on Hemşinlis and who never hesitated to help me with their comments and feedback. I thank all my friends who have always been incredibly nice and kind to me for all those years. I am deeply grateful to Elif, Hatice, Vildan, Meltem, Duygu, Songül, Hüseyin, Haydar, Can, Ilker, Ayhan, Ali, Ruşen, Veysi, Emel and Ezgi for being so supportive, caring, cheerful and motivating friends. Last but not least, I owe much to my family for their understanding, care and love. Special thanks go to my parents Gülseren and Mürteza who made all of this possible and to my sisters Güler, Serap, Aygül and Sünkar who always bring happiness and joy to my life. I am extraordinarily fortunate in having them in my life. I am eternally indebted to each one of you. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................................................................ IX CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 5 CHAPTER III: HISTORY: KİMANAQ TA? HOZAİK! .................................... 11 3.1. Why Do Hemşinlis Need History? .................................................................. 13 3.2. History writing: Hemşin History by Armenian and Turkish Researchers ...... 34 3.3. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER IV: HISTORY BY HOPA HEMŞİNLİS ............................................ 59 4.1. Constructions of Ethnic Identity and Origins of the Hopa Hemşinlis ............. 60 4.2. Migration to Hopa from Baş Hemşin/Rize Hemşin ........................................ 71 4.3. Russo-Turkish War of 1877/78 ....................................................................... 82 4.4. Settlement in the downtown ............................................................................ 93 4.5. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 117 CHAPTER V: HEMŞİNCE: HISTORY, LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AND PRESENT STATUS ............................................................................................... 120 5.1. How is it there is a language called "Hemşince"? ......................................... 120 5.2. Hemşince since after the Republic of Turkey ............................................... 137 5.3. Present Status of Hemşince: Space and Function .......................................... 145 5.4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 193 CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION ............................................................................ 196 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................... 201 A. AN ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH SEVIM ................................ 202 B. MAPS: HEMŞIN GEOGRAPHY ................................................................ 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 246 VII TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS ( ) Double parentheses provide information about the transcriber's comments, explanations (…) Represents omitted speech. “ ” Quotation marks are used to mark direct reported speech. - Indicates self- interruption. VIII PREFACE I frequently think that if there were not encounters of people with others who have different ethnic, linguistic and historical backgrounds, the nationalist ideologies of the nation states would be more successful at the production of national languages, cultures and even persons. One such is my encounter with İlden whom I first saw confronting the jokes of some people attributing Laz ethnicity to her, for she has a long nose. Long nose and being a Laz is a stereotypical association in Turkey. 1 Confrontations such as these occurred many times during my years of friendship with İlden. Not making the jokes on her nose an issue, but taking them seriously, İlden has always provided detailed explanations until the jokers regretted their jokes. In her short lecture, she always states that she is not Laz but a Hemşinli; that Laz people and Hemşinlis live in the same place, in the county of Hopa in Artvin; that Hemşinlis speak a language called "Homşetsnak" by its speakers; that they have a dance called "Hemşin Horonu" which everybody would like to learn when they see it. She further states that she is of Armenian origin though not all Hemşinlis accept this. Much later, I was going to learn that Hemşinlis introduced themselves as Laz when they are outside their hometown. She provides evidence for Armenian origin, which is burying the dead with a coffin, which is not a Muslim tradition at funerals. She concludes that because Hemşinlis have such a burying ceremony, which is a Christian tradition, her Hemşin Armenian ancestors converted from Christianity to Islam. Like İlden's joking friends, I had not known either one word of İlden's narrative, or the existence of a group of people called Hemşinlis until I met her in the late 1990s. 1 In Turkey, it is a very much common prejudice that if a person is from the Black Sea Region, most probably she is a Laz and most of the time being a Laz does not refer to a different ethnicity but reduced to Turkish citizens who live in the Black Sea Region and who have a different Turkish accent. The people in Turkey generally use the name "Laz" refering to all inhabitants of Turkey's Black Sea provinces associated with certain social stereotypes. IX In the summer of 2010, we decided to spend some time in İlden's village Çavuşlu in Hopa. She had always been telling us how beautiful her village was and referred to the people there with expressions of passion and joy. Before heading for Hopa, we traveled to southeastern Turkey. Finally, we took a bus from Van to Artvin