German Nation and Its Strange Other: Turkish Migrants

The main aim of this study is to examine the
constitutive role of German national identity in the
identity construction of Turkish migrants. It tries
to understand how and to what extent the
constitution of migrants identity is intermingled
with German national identity. It is an attempt to
demonstrate Turkish migrants perception
of Turkishness and Otherness in relation to the
experience of migration and the host country s
national identity discourse. This study is based on
the assumption that migrant position is peculiar,
as it constitutes a site of resistance to the
national desire for coherence and integrity. The in-
between position of the migrant does not allow the
host nation for easy us versus them
configuration. Turkish migrants introduce a
disturbing indeterminacy into the German
attempt of creating homogeneous and unitary national
identity. Therefore, German nation either pushes
Turkish migrants to the margins of society or erases
their difference, thus melting them within the
national identity and culture. These two methods
both have crucial repercussions on the identity of
the Turkish migrants.

Autorentext

Graduated from Department of International Relations at Middle
East Technical University (METU) in 1996.Completed her master in
Sociology at METU in 2001 & her PhD in History at European
University Institute in 2006 with the dissertation
titled 'Dynamics of Identity Transformation: Three Generations
of Turkish Immigrants in Berlin'.

Klappentext

The main aim of this study is to examine the
constitutive role of German national identity in the
identity construction of Turkish migrants. It tries
to understand how and to what extent the
constitution of migrants' identity is intermingled
with German national identity. It is an attempt to
demonstrate Turkish migrants' perception
of 'Turkishness' and 'Otherness' in relation to the
experience of migration and the host country's
national identity discourse. This study is based on
the assumption that 'migrant position' is peculiar,
as it constitutes a site of resistance to the
national desire for coherence and integrity. The in-
between position of the migrant does not allow the
host nation for easy 'us' versus 'them'
configuration. Turkish migrants introduce a
disturbing indeterminacy into the German
attempt of creating homogeneous and unitary national
identity. Therefore, German nation either pushes
Turkish migrants to the margins of society or erases
their difference, thus melting them within the
national identity and culture. These two methods
both have crucial repercussions on the identity of
the Turkish migrants.