Living with the specters of the past: an insight into identity, subjectivity, and memory in Trabzon

Abstract

This thesis aims at comprehending the dynamics of identity in Romeika-speaking locals of Akyayla, Trabzon, through focusing on the status of Romeika as a living memory. My analysis depicts the language as a private and intimate element of communal identity that fuels the investment in and performance of Turkishness in the area. Public private discussion is reassessed to understand the complexities of the (in)visibility of Romeika in the public sphere. This research also touches upon how Romeika-speaking locals relate to official discourses and other communities who raise political demands that are based-on their socio-cultural distinctions. The staunch allegiance of locals to nationalist ideals is analyzed in relation to their haunting heritage and memories. Finally, dynamics of local identity and how it affected by the continuity of Romeika is discussed in relation to psychoanalytic theory to get a better grasp of subjectivity, identity, and remembrance in Akyayla.