Memory, modernity and nostalgia: The narratives of Muslim and Christian Mersinli women

This study aims to explore how a group of Muslim and Christian women of Mersin remember and narrate their life experiences in relation to modernity, the Republican reforms and the intercommunal relations between the Muslims and Christians in Mersin. Through the oral history method, the narratives of these 'ordinary' middle class Mersinli women are scrutinized on: 1) how these women remember and narrate the Republican reforms and modernity; 2) how they perceive their hometown Mersin and construct a nostalgic understanding of modernity in the face of recent demographic changes and 3) how they perceive the intercommunal relations between the Muslims and Christians of Mersin. In-terviewees' strong affiliation with the local identity of being Mersinli is evaluated in the framework of the nostalgia they cultivate for the past. The narratives regarding the intercommunal relations and marriages between the Muslim and Christian communities in Mersin, are examined in order to reveal the experience of living in one of the very few cosmopolitan and multi-religious cities of Turkey. A particular focus on the narratives of the Christian women aims to unravel their experiences about being a member of an ethno-religious minority in Mersin, and overall in Turkey.