Geleneksel Mahallede Toplumsal Hafıza: Bursa Emirsultan Mahallesi

Abstract

The present study offers an in-depth analysis of the formation, preservation and transmitting of the collective memory in a neighborhood featuring traditional and historical characteristics, focusing on the sociological context of the relationship between memory and space. Collective memory and neighborhood are key concepts of the study. Collective memory, though embedded in the minds of individuals, exists outside of individual memory as a social remembrance phenomenon that affects and shapes it. Apart from the individual memory, everyone has layers of collective memory as many as social groups they belong to, such as family, religious groups, villages and neighborhoods. As for the neighborhood, it is the closest physical group of the individuals after the family. The neighborhood, defined as the spatial footprint of social relations, is an important place where social relations and frameworks are identified, apart from being an important social group that shapes the memory of individuals. In this study, Bursa Emirsultan Neighborhood, with a history extending to the 14th century, was chosen as a case study due to special characteristics Bursa shows, as the first capital of the Ottoman State, such as traditions, customs, ceremonies, habits, practices and rules as well as its historical and cultural background. Through a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews were conducted with 20 people who are currently living in the neighborhood or had lived in the past. As a result, research findings are categorized by a five-fold classification: i) history, perception, narratives/stories and change of the neighbourhood, ii) spaces, iii) ceremonies and events, iv) relationships, practices and habits and finally v) personalities. Moreover, when the findings of the collective memory in the neighborhood are analyzed, the themes of religious belief, being historicity and change comes to the forefront.