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Profane Intuitions: Kurdish Diaspora in the Turkish City
Author(s) -
Houston Christopher
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the australian journal of anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1757-6547
pISSN - 1035-8811
DOI - 10.1111/j.1835-9310.2001.tb00060.x
Subject(s) - turkish , diaspora , vision , immigration , constitution , refugee , gender studies , assimilation (phonology) , sociology , identity (music) , theme (computing) , the republic , political science , law , aesthetics , anthropology , epistemology , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , operating system
Contemporary analysis of the ‘Kurdish question’ in Turkey has often enough noted the recent explosion of Kurdish refugees and immigrants to the major Turkish cities. Interest in the re‐constitution of Kurdish identity in the metropolis, however, has been less evident. This article seeks to identify some of the main themes that need to be addressed in any such investigation. It begins by arguing that discourse on the ‘Kurdish question’ often frames the Kurds, rather than the Turkish state, as the problem. The response of the Turkish Republic to such a problem has been to assimilate the Kurds. The struggle against assimilation then is the common theme binding the multiple visions and experiences of the Kurdish diaspora.