Collective memory and space: experiences of women immigrants from Bulgaria and Bursa immigration history museum

This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between collective memory and space on the basis of the life experiences of women who migrated from Bulgaria to Turkey. In the study, collective and individual memories are handled in relation to space. It is viewed that memory may be distributed socially in group interactions and instrumentally in objects and space is emphasized. Migration is regarded as a "dominant memory" in group memory and at the same time as a spatial displacement dividing the continuity of the common experience and bringing about a change in the frames of social meanings. The migration and the new urban life that came with migration changes the perception and habits of immigrants about time and space, needed to draw attention to the immigrants' remembrance and forgetfulness. In the study, Bursa Immigration History Museum is considered as a "place of memory" in terms of the impact about the return of women immigrants' memories. Qualitative research has been carried out for the purposes of thesis. In-depth interviews with migrant women in the first stage of the research include experiences about before, during and after immigration. In the second stage, Bursa Immigration History Museum is visited together with immigrant women. By this way, their views about the museum are evaluated in terms of participant observation and the focus group interviews. Keywords: Collective memory, Space, Migration, Immigrants from Bulgaria, Bursa Immigration History Museum