This thesis examines the recent phenomenon of Atatü / rk&rsquo / s tattoos through a twofold theoretical framework of body politics and secularism. Firstly, it examines the growing interest on the body in social sciences, which has focused on the body as a site of both docility and subversivity. Additionally, the body has been rediscovered as a fetish object through which selfhood and subjectivity are continually reconstructed and contested. These developments were simultaneously conditioned by and manifested themselves in an understanding of &lsquo / the body as a project&rsquo / . Secondly, the study explores Atatü / rk&rsquo / s continued legacy in Turkish politics and for the nation-people. 73 years after his death, Atatü / rk still remains the utmost personification of the secular Turkish nation state. An effort is made to demonstrate how &lsquo / the secular&rsquo / , representing the normative nation-identity, and &lsquo / the religious&rsquo / , representing its Other, have been made in Turkish history. In light of these theories, Atatü / rk tattoo almost seems like an oxymoron: &lsquo / tattoo&rsquo / carrying controversial and rebellious, and &lsquo / Atatü / rk&rsquo / statist and conformist undertones. The main ambition of this thesis is to explore this contradiction through an analysis of whether the Atatü / rk tattoo is a spontaneous (body) politics on the side of &lsquo / the people&rsquo / or whether it is a symptom of Kemalism&rsquo / s current position in society and politics. Finally, to better understand the subject, field research has been conducted with tattoo artists and people with the Atatü / rk tattoo, in 3 cities, through the summer and fall of 2010.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613367/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
| Creators | Erim, Bilun |
| Contributors | Yildirim, Erdogan |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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