Emotions and Nationalism: Armenian Genocide as a Case Study
Until recently, sociologists have paid surprisingly little attention to the relationship between emotions and nationalism. Existing accounts remain homogeneous, linear and nonrelational. To remedy this gap, this article compares public controversies in Turkey over the Armenian genocide at two histor...
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| Published in: | Sociological forum (Randolph, N.J.) Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 735 - 756 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wayne
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01-09-2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Until recently, sociologists have paid surprisingly little attention to the relationship between emotions and nationalism. Existing accounts remain homogeneous, linear and nonrelational. To remedy this gap, this article compares public controversies in Turkey over the Armenian genocide at two historical moments: its semi-centennial anniversary in 1965, and the publication of an article in 2004 by the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink that led to his assassination in 2007. It demonstrates that the genocide, and the conflicting epistemic structures that it incites, is a source of anxiety for Armenians due to their actual displacement within the nation. It is also a source of anxiety for Turks due to the perceived threat of displacement within the nation. These relational anxieties over the nation played an important role, during these two events, in reproducing hierarchical and exclusionary configurations, experiences, and representations of nationhood. During the 1965 semi-centennial, Armenians reacted to the mainstream Turkish public's anxieties by pledging their loyalty to the state. Dink's assassination in 2007, on the other hand, showcases how an attempt by the excluded to redefine the what and who of the nation united otherwise separate social sections around a nationalist front. |
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| Bibliography: | I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their close and careful engagement with the article. I would also like to thank Markus Dressler, Doerthe Engelcke, Fatma Muge Gocek, Matthias Koenig, Defne Over, Gulay Turkmen‐Dervisoglu, Myungji Yang, and Gerben Zaagsma for very useful comments and suggestions. I presented earlier drafts of the article at various conferences and workshops including the “Religious Minorities’ Self‐representations, Claims of Difference and Sameness in the Politics of Belonging” workshop at the Utrecht University in October 2017; the “Politics and Emotions: Race, Ethnicity and Political Identity” panel at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association; and last, but not least, the “Imagining and Regulating Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Turkey: Macro‐Configurations and Micro‐Dynamics” workshop at the Max Planck Institute for Ethnic and Religious Diversity in 2016. |
| ISSN: | 0884-8971 1573-7861 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/socf.12441 |