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Products that Age with Us: Carpet in the Turkish Household

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

R. Gurel*
Affiliation:
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Turkey
O. Merzali Celikoglu
Affiliation:
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

Abstract

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This paper explores carpet, an intergenerational product, that lives and ages with its users. An ethnographic study was conducted through participant observation and in-depth interviews to understand why carpet matters in Turkish homes. Exploring material culture of carpet unfolds its meaning as a signifier of culture in second-order semiological systems. Study finds carpet has socializing traits, is the maker of home, needs maintenance and can be an artwork or object. Examining a product's importance and emotional durability can enable new understandings of product meaning and sustainability.

Type
Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2022.

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