Kurds are the largest ethnic group in Turkey; they have been at the centre of conflict since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Scattered across Turkey, with their own language, distinct from the official language of the state, and historically subject to the state’s homogenisation policies, Kurds present an interesting case for scholars of ethnicity. How does this history affect the way ‘Kurdishness’ is manifested? While Kurds’ relationship with the Turkish state and increasingly their everyday lives been widely studied, the diversity of the Kurdish experience in Turkey is not well understood. Drawing on the literature on boundary theory pioneered by Frederick Barth (1969) and developed by Andreas Wimmer (2013) among others, this thesis explores manifestations of ‘Kurdishness’ in Turkey. To do this, this thesis is interested in the role that state rhetoric, region and language play. The research design sought to capture something of the diversity of Kurdish experience across Turkey, specifically in Western Turkey (Istanbul, which has the largest Kurdish population within Turkey, and Ayvalık, a small town with certain Kurdish districts) and Southeast Turkey (multi-ethnic Mardin, Diyarbakır, the ‘spiritual capital’ for Kurds, and Derik, a small town predominated by Kurds). The research utilised three methods: semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Kurdish respondents, both native- and non-native speakers of Kurdish. Participant observation was also undertaken. This data was collected between January and May 2013, with follow-up research conducted in June 2014. In addition, party documents, speeches and statements by party leaders, and selected laws from the early Republican period (1923-1938) and the AKP period (from 2002 to the present) were analysed. This research suggests that ‘Kurdishness’ in Turkey is manifested in different forms. Instead of taking ‘Kurdishness’ as a matter of degree, this thesis suggests that individuals exhibit ‘Kurdishness’ in a variety of forms. Context is key. The thesis first examines the role of state rhetoric in categorising Kurdishness during two ‘moments of transition’, the creation of the Kemalist Republic and the advent of the AKP in power. It is suggested that not only changes but also continuities in state rhetoric play a significant role in the construction of ‘Kurdishness’ in these two moments. There is regional dimension to the display of Kurdishness. Specifically the boundaries of what constitutes Kurdishness contrast markedly by region. This is reflected in my respondents’ experience of discrimination and prejudice in their interactions with non-Kurds. Finally, family and neighbourhood also play a key role in shaping different forms. Specifically, the use of language in these environments plays an important role in shaping different forms of ‘Kurdishness’.

Dans les quatre pays dominant le Kurdistan, (Turquie, Iran, Irak et Syrie), la question kurde se traduit avant tout sous forme de visibilité/ invisibilité, autour de la question de la reconnaissance des Kurdes en tant que Nation déniée. Notamment en Turquie, le premier des pays à avoir imposé aux Kurdes son modèle d'Etat-Nation, cette question renvoie aux politiques négationnistes étatiques menées contre la culture et l'identité kurdes, considérées dès 1924, comme des obstacles au processus de création d'une identité nationale turque. Dans ce rapport conflictuel entre le nationalisme turc et le nationalisme kurde, également fruit d'une mémorisation traumatique et d'une longue histoire de résistance kurde dans chaque partie du Kurdistan, l'imaginaire des Kurdes renvoie а une dimension historique devenue spontanément une référence essentielle du traitement cinématographique de la « kurdicité », sous forme d’interaction construite par les Kurdes eux-mêmes ou créée par leurs adversaires politiques.Notre thèse s'efforce de montrer cette influence durable du nationalisme sur le traitement cinématographique de la « kurdicité », principalement dans le cinéma turc traitant les Kurdes sans les designer en tant que Kurdes, puis dans le cinéma kurde au service de la « cause kurde » après les années 1990. / In the four countries dominating Kurdistan (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria) the Kurdish question translates first and foremost under the concept of visibility/invisibility, around the problem of the recognition of the Kurds as a denied nation. This is especially apparent in the case of Turkey, the first of the countries which imposed its own nation-state on the Kurds : this question is associated with the negationist state policies on Kurdish culture and identity,which, since 1924, have been considered as obstacles on the path to the creation of a nationalTurkish identity. In this conflictual relation between Kurdish and Turkish nationalisms – the fruit, among others, of a traumatic memory and a long history of Kurdish resistance inrespective sections of Kurdistan – the imagery of the Kurds refers to a historical dimensionwhich has spontaneously become an essential reference of cinematographic treatment of« Kurdishness » under the form of interactions constructed by themselves or by their own political opponents. The present thesis aims at describing that permanent influence of nationalism on the cinematographic treatment of « Kurdishness » in the Turkish cinema which principally treats the Kurds without designating them as Kurds, then in the Kurdish cinema in the service of « Kurdish cause » following the 1990s.