Gençlerin Bir Kentin Aidiyet Mekânı Olarak İnşasına Katılımı: Trabzon Hakkındaki Mitselleştirilmiş Anlatılar ve Trabzonspor Hatırası
Gülmelek DoğanayBenlik bir mekânda var olmakla ilişkili ise, benliğe özgü anlatıların da bir mekânda vuku bulduğu bir gerçektir. Bu nedenle gençliği anlamak, özellikle gençliğin deneyimlediği mekânı analiz etmekle mümkün olacaktır. Bu çerçeveden hareketle, çalışma Trabzon’da yaşayan gençlerin kenti ne şekilde aidiyet mekânına dönüştürdüklerine odaklanmaktadır. Trabzon’da gençler kente olan aidiyetlerini çoğu zaman mitselleştirilmiş anlatılar, Trabzonspor taraftarlığına dayalı geçmiş hatıralar ve deneyimlenen mekânlar üzerinden inşa etmektedir. Trabzon kendisini deneyimleyen gençlere yoğun bir içeridelik hissi sağlamaktadır. Bu his onların kendilerini yuva olarak kabul ettikleri bu mekânda güvende hissetmelerine neden olmaktadır.
Bu çalışma yazarın doktora tezinden türetilmiştir ve onun saha verilerine dayanmaktadır. Çalışmada, toplumsal bir olgu olarak ele alınacak olan Trabzonlu gençlerin kente atfettikleri anlam sosyolojik bakış açısıyla açıklanmaya çalışılacaktır. Söz konusu amaç çerçevesinde anket, mülakat ve doküman inceleme gibi birden fazla bilimsel araştırma tekniği kullanılmıştır. Temelde nitel araştırma yöntemlerinin kullanıldığı yorumsamacı yaklaşım benimsenmiş ve derinlemesine mülakatlar ile görsel, işitsel ve yazılı dokümanların incelenmesi sonucunda elde edilen veriler, kapalı uçlu sorulardan oluşan anket uygulamasıyla da desteklenmiştir.
Participation of Youth in the Building of a City as a Place of Belonging: Mythicalized Narratives About Trabzon and Trabzonspor Memory
Gülmelek DoğanayIf self is related to being in a place, it is a fact that narratives special to the self, have also occurred in a place. Therefore, understanding youth will be possible by analyzing the place experienced by them. Within the framework of this approach, this study focuses on how young people living in Trabzon transform the city into a place of social belonging. In Trabzon, young people build a sense of belonging to the city mostly through mythicalized narratives, past memories and places they have experienced on the basis of being Trabzonspor supporters. Trabzon provides an intense feeling of inner belonging for young people who experience it. This feeling causes them to feel safe in this place, which they consider as home.
This study is derived from the author’s doctoral thesis and is based on its field data. This study attempts to explain the meaning attributed to the city by Trabzonlu young people from a sociological perspective. For this purpose, multiple scientific research techniques such as questionnaires, interviews and documentation were used. Basically, the approach of hermeneutics which uses qualitative research methods has been adopted and the data, obtained through the examination of in-depth interviews and visual, audio and written documents’ analysis, has been supported by a questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions.
The place is continuously constructed within the framework of the common meanings attributed by the actors who experience it and becomes an important element of belonging. This is also a process in which the self is built. If self is related to being in a place, it is a fact that narratives special to the self, have also occurred in a place. Therefore, understanding youth will be possible by analyzing the places experienced by them. Within the framework of this approach, this study focuses on how young people living in Trabzon transform the city into a place of social belonging. Trabzon provides an intense feeling of inner belonging for young people who experience it. This feeling causes them to feel safe in this place, which they consider as home. In Trabzon, young people build their sense of belonging to the city mostly through mythicalized narratives, past memories and places they have experienced on the basis of being Trabzonspor supporters.
The mythicalized narratives which are reproduced about Trabzon and being Trabzonspor supporters create a common sense of community among young people. It is assumed that the nationalist discourse is also being rebuilt while Trabzon and Trabzonluluk are exalted through mythicalized narratives. Each young person experiences the city through different places; however, there are also places where collective emotions appear and which are experienced in a collective way. The memories accumulated in these places that Trabzonspor supporters experience together strengthen the social belonging to the city and facilitate the integration of young people into the city. On the other hand, young people who participate in the reproduction of both mythicalized narratives and the places experienced collectively by being Trabzonspor supporters, contribute to the domination of the masculine values on the city. As a result, the city is defined by masculine characteristics.
This study is derived from the author’s doctoral thesis and is based on its field data. This study attempts to explain the meaning attributed to the city by Trabzonlu young people from a sociological perspective. For this purpose, multiple scientific research techniques such as questionnaires, interviews and documentation were used. First of all, a questionnaire was prepared and completed after readings on the theory and literature research on youth and place belonging, and conversations with four young people from Trabzon. Afterwards, the necessary preparations for in-depth interviews were made through the information gathered from research into the literature and the results of the questionnaire. Interviews were then conducted. In the final stage, social media and photo and video sharing channels like Youtube that young people actively use were observed. As a result, both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained and analyzed. Basically, the approach of hermeneutics which uses qualitative research methods has been adopted and the data, obtained through the examination of in-depth interviews and visual, audio and written documents’ analysis, has been supported by a questionnaire consisting of closed-ended questions.
According to the findings of the research, it is seen that young people living in Trabzon participate in the reproduction of mythicalized narratives about the city and can identify with Trabzon, which they spatialize through these narratives. Myths create an imaginary and fictional city image. The myths created about Trabzon state that the city is a safe place. The safety of the city emerges in the narratives produced through the heroism of the men living in the city. According to the narratives, the conquest of Istanbul was completed with the conquest of Trabzon and Trabzon is Turkey’s last stronghold and the heart. This narrative, in whose reproduction young people also participate, is a narrative that can be heard by most of the people of Trabzon. This narrative shows that they are both national and urban nationalists. This also reinforces the belief that the city is the center of the region. Trabzon has lost its central position - being the economic, social and political center of the Black Sea Region- in the historical process, but the belief about city’s central position is constantly being rebuilt by the narratives reproduced by the inhabitants of the city. This effort is similar to the crisis of power in which hegemonic masculinity enters. The fears of losing their power completely over the region pushes Trabzonlular to create an imaginary narrative for the preservation of the city image and to regain the position of being the ‘big brother’ of the region. Trabzonspor is one of the most important elements that enables this narrative to continue.
One of the elements that reinforces the urban nationalism and belonging to the city among the young people is being a Trabzonspor supporter. Football has always been an important sport for Trabzon in the historical process. Today, it is seen that Trabzonspor, which has an important place in the representation of Anatolia, shapes the daily life of the city. In Trabzon, which is decorated in the team’s colours of claret red and blue before and after Trabzonspor matches, young people learn adulthood as a Trabzonspor supporter. Football can be effective in building identity at the local level, because it enables supporters to belong to a group. On the other hand, belonging to a group strengthens the attachment to the place where the group lives. The majority of young people living in Trabzon are Trabzonspor supporters and the Club covers a significant part of their daily lives. The youth whose daily life includes of claret red and blue, build a common feeling and memory around Trabzonspor. This memory appears in the narratives created about the years of the championships and of the trauma in which championships have been lost, as well as in the memory of places, such as Hüseyin Avni Aker. This collective memory reinforces the attachment of young people with the city.
