From "Femina Grata" to "Femina Sacra": Shifting approaches to Kurdish women in feminist academic discourse

This thesis investigates how the scholarly approach to Kurdish women in gender literature has transformed from 1980 to the present in Turkey by examining the political developments that have influenced and shaped these changes. The first part of the thesis addresses the impact of these political conditions on academic production. Through interviews with experienced scholars and researchers, as well as document analysis, it explores how theoretical approaches have been reflected in academic work over the years due to political developments, interactions, and debates within feminist grassroots movements. It also examines the theoretical alliances and divergences that have arisen. After examining how political conditions have evolved over the years and how academics have positioned themselves in response to these changes, the second part of the thesis explores the theoretical shifts in feminist academic production, highlighting the theoretical approaches that have gained prominence over time through an analysis of strategically selected academic texts. As a result of the interviews and document analysis, theoretical approaches to Kurdish women have been analyzed in a way that can be broadly divided into three main periods. Despite covering a range of texts, this part mainly focuses on the most influential academic works and purports to illustrate the three main approaches identified in the study.