Identity as discourse: Discursive construction of Circassianness

Circassians are an ethno-cultural group living in various parts of Turkey and whose population is approximately a few hundred thousand. Following the colonization of their ancestral homeland by Russia, they came to the Ottoman lands in waves and in masses from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Circassians, who preserved their identity and differences being integrated into the Ottoman and Turkish socio-political life, have discursively constructed an identity demonstrating historical discontinuity in Turkey in a connection with their cognates living in the Circassian republics which are part of the Russian Federation and in various countries around the world, primarily the Middle Eastern countries. This discursive identity is a dynamic identity which changes with different readings and urgencies imposed upon them by the conditions in which they are while being based on the same references, and it bears a great diversity within itself both successively and simultaneously. In this regard, Circassianness as a discursive formation constituted within different fields of discourse by Circassians living in Turkey is investigated in this dissertation. Circassianness is studied from the perspective of different discourses based on the same references regarding the origins of the Circassians, who they are, what language they speak, their traditions, the genocide they underwent in the 19th century, their perception of homeland and the organizational units they established since the Ottoman. Keywords Circassians, Circassianness, Caucasus, discourse, identity, ethnicity, diaspora