Alphabet reform in the context of social memory loss discussion

The act of retrieving the information encoded in memory in form of past experiences by employing various physical and physiological processes in making sense of the present and envisioning the future, is roughly defined as "remembering". The primary individualistic quality of man, the faculty of "memory" that enables perception, encoded recording and retrieval of information is also possessed by communities, and the term "collective memory" is used to express this phenomenon postulated as a mechanism and structure similar to human memory. Information and cultural codes in the collective memory were transferred through various media in the history, and initially dominated by oral culture, it was surrendered to the hegemony of written culture in time. As is the case for all the other transformations and turning points in the historical process, some losses and forgetting occurred also in collective memory due to sociological processes and traumatic events. In retrospect, it is possible to say that the gaps in the collective memory and differences in collective recollections are primarily an outcome of various traumatic events. Apparently it is necessary to prevent the possible losses which may occur in collective memory as much as possible and to bring these collective memories on a common ground for societal peace and a shared ideal of the future based on peace. Here it must be remembered that as the basic principle, the intergenerational synchronization of collective memory is enabled by different instruments depending on whether the object is information or another cultural element. Especially in the Early Republic era, sociological analyses with generalizing tendencies took hold as this principle was ignored or overlooked. In this context, with a view of Early Republic era reformations reducing collective memory synchronization to writing, Alphabet reform stands out as a turning point in the loss of collective memory. Considering that collective memory does not solely consist of writing or words recorded in written form, and that the society possesses cognitive and habitual memory as much as individuals; reconsideration of institutions and concepts targeted by Early Republic era reformations under the context of collective memory loss will lead to a catharsis of the period. Experiences in the collective memory of Turkey as the legacy of a civilization with experiences from different ages involving shifts and transformations in concepts such as writing, language and religion affecting cultural codes, had been presented as a source of wealth and a successful experience; while Early Republic era by and of itself became a cause for "detachment", "loss" and "trauma". This is the main question of this study.