Kaya, Ayhan (1997) Constructing diasporas : Turkish hip-hop youth in Berlin. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the construction and articulation of diasporic cultural ident4y among
Turkish male hip-hop youth living in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The research reflects upon the
narratives and life-worlds of two predominantly male youth groups, whose 'habitats of
meaning' are primarily defined by the ethnic enclave in which they are living. The research
strategy mainly involves qualitative research techniques such as 'rapport', 'in-depth
interviews' and 'semi-structured interviews', and attempts to go beyond the dichotomy of
'objectivism' and 'subjectivism' by combining the two in a hybrid form.
The main assumption of this study is that Berlin-Turkish hip-hop youngsters have
recently developed a politics of diaspora to cope with their structural outsiderism in their
country of settlement. The social and cultural space created by Turkish migrants and their
descendants in Kreuzberg, or in what they call 'Little Istanbul', constitutes a diasporic
space which provides the modem diasporic subject with a syotholic bridge between the
diaspora and their homeland. In this diasporic space, they tend to gain an 'imagined sense
of belonging' to their homeland Turkey, which has been 'deferred' as a spiritual, cultural
and political metaphor, on the other hand, conversely they also develop a strong sense of
homing to the 'Turkified' Kreuzberg.
Besides shedding light on the notion of diasporic identity, this study also attempts
to underline two major constituents shaping diasporic cultural identity, namely
globalisation and cultural bricolage. Modern diasporic identity is constructed and
articulated through means of globalisation. The growth of modern communication and
transportation networks such as TV channels, video tapes, newspapers, internet facilities
and charter flights has facilitated and increased the pace of communication between
Germany and Turkey. In consonance with this, the diaspora has infiltrated the homeland,
and the homeland infiltrated the diaspora. Transnational connections with homeland, other
members of diaspora in various geographies, and/or with a world-political force (such as
Islam) break the binary relation of minority conamunities with majority societies as well as
strengthening their claims against an oppressive national hegemony.
Modem means of globalisation have not only brought the homeland closer to the
diaspora, but also erased the distance between the diasporic subject and the external world.
Modern networks of globalisation have provided Berlin-Turkish youth with an opportunity
to incorporate themselves into different global cultural streams such as hip-hop culture. In
the context of Berlin-Turkish hip-hop youth, what emerged out of these transnational links
is a syncretic form of minority youth culture, or 'third culture'. This 'third culture' is a
bricolage in which elements from different cultural traditions, sources and social discourses
are continuously intermingled with and juxtaposed to each other.
This work also investigates the transformation of political participation strategies
which Turkish migrants in Berlin have developed since the beginning of the migratory
process in 1961. So far, there have been two principal strategies, namely a migrant strategy
and a minor4y strategy. Both strategies developed along ethnic lines partly due to the
exciusionist incorporation regimes of the Federal Republic of Germany vis-â-vis' migrants.
Yet, recently diasporic consciousness seems to be replacing, or at least, supplementing the
migrant and minority strategies.
The work concludes that the politics of diaspora is grounded on different
antithetical forces such as past/present, here/there, 'tradition'/'translation' and local/global.
In this sense, modern diasporic identity conveys an identity which is not a fixed, essentialist
and authorised totality, but which is always in a constant process of change and
transformation.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DR Balkan Peninsula H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Turks -- Germany -- Berlin -- Kreuzberg, Young adults -- Germany -- Berlin -- Kreuzberg, Hip-hop -- Germany -- Berlin -- Kreuzberg
Official Date:	October 1997
Dates:	Date Event October 1997 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (Economic and Social Research Council)
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Vertovec, Steven
Sponsors:	Marmara Üniversitesi ; European Union (EU) ; Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) ; Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS) ; University of Warwick
Extent:	xiv, 288 leaves
Language:	eng

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