Linguistic construction of oral narratives in Turkish :|women’s stories of survival and power

Abstract

This thesis project investigates the linguistic construction of oral narratives recounted by violence survivor women residing in a small city of Central Anatolia in Turkey. Based on micro-ethnographic analysis of audio-recorded interview data, the study reveals how women construct violence, emancipation, and gender norms within their stories and thereby negotiate and construct power in the realm of patriarchy. Discussed in line with the poststructuralist and social constructionist perspectives, the findings demonstrate how violence, symbolic power, and empowerment are constructed in the polyphonic and dialogic discourse of Turkish oral narratives. Furthermore, the findings elucidate the gender-related messages in the oral discourse of survivor women as well as the shifting roles and positions they adopt.