Representation and identification of the Istanbulite Greek Orthodox in religious rituals

The primary problematic addressed in the doctoral dissertation study revolved around the meaning of religion and ritual, the functions they serve and where Istanbulite Greek Orthodox rituals intersect with identity. Other concepts such as place and memory are addressed in the way people create meaningful connections around place, identity and memory as evidenced by spatial arrangements and how space in general and Istanbul specifically is rendered sacred. I attempted to address the problematic within individual historical contexts while examining the effects of migration along with the concepts of memory and place. For the Istanbulite Greek Orthodox community, religion is a source of identity formation and has a longtime connection with the Byzantine and Ottoman past. In the culture of Greek Orthodoxy, religion primarily serves as a source of connections around which to gather and support one another. Because of the distinctive roles played by rituals in the formation, maintenance and transferral of identity in this ?ethno-religious? identity, one must approach the religious rituals of the Greek Orthodox as a world of meaning, one that?s been kept culturally alive throughout generations. In societies that have experienced ruptures like mass migrations, memory becomes a means of protecting identity. Migration shocks individuals? spatial sense and renders the weave created out of interactions and memories problematic. The most important components of this problematic sense of identity are observable in the interpretations of rituals in Athens and Istanbul and the boundaries of language (Greek-Romioi/Turkish-Romioi).