Sensual and Spatial Formation of Migrant Homes: Narratives of Lived Experiences in Aşağı Maraş

This thesis is concerned with the understanding of home and its formation process under the condition of migration, and re-settlement in new environments. The primary objective of the research is to examine the sensual experiences of migrants and spatial formation of their homes, in terms of taken approaches and interventions to re-create personalized living environments. This issue has been discussed through the narratives on the life of Turkish Cypriots, who faced with the forced displacement from home due to the escalated violence between Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities in 1974. Subsequent to the people’s displacement, group of Turkish Cypriots entailed to resettle in the homes of Aşağı Maraş that previously belonged to other Greek Cypriots who were forced to move out of their home too. Narrative research method has been chosen to open a window on people’s complex life stories to acknowledge the correlations between their experiences and home making practices. In terms of the data collection, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected research participants. Besides, personal observation on the sample homes of Aşağı Maraş were used as the visual evidences of the research and documented through photographs. In total, thesis is organized in five chapters. Firstly, it begins by presenting the origins of the research problem, and the overall approach of the study. Secondly, conducted literature review in chapter two and three, produced by documentary research, explores the dimensions of space and its interaction with human, and examines the contradictive meaning of home with migration. Finally, collected narratives are expressed to identify the evolution of Aşağı Maraş Homes from alien places to personalized homes. In conclusion, thesis argues about the meaning of home and the intimate process of re-constructing a place, with deep level of considerations.