Turkey is a country that has recently shifted its culture from an Islamic one to a western secular alternative. All the World leans onto the same way, yet Turkish example was a bit harsh due to Islamic culture being dominant in peoples lives. It was reckless maybe, however it was a pioneering act for all non-western cultures. Theoretical avant-gardes may be a bit reckless, due to the enterprises they’re doing. Consequently this venture proved to be enlightening to all of humanity. We saw what happens if such a culture tries to shift between contrasting paradigms in a short amount of time. Such a fluke have showed us that if you begin a journey with the hope of your desired destination and invest your best version into it; all sorts of unexpected factors will create a magical resolution.
The resolution of the challenge of Turkey and all rapid transformers showed that you can’t really make a mistake on the plenary level. All actions have different reactions and it will be a zero sum game in the theoretical dimension. What was the magical resolution in Turkey? It wasn’t economic welfare or felicity among people, definitely not. It was the notion of “change.” There isn’t any other major country having the social change as the main theme as much as Turkey. Turkish literature, not only the modern one but the medieval one is also composed of social change.
Turkish people have recently settled in the 11th century. It was shown in the folk tales, the people who abandon nomadic life, their struggle with the new concept of constant neighborhood, same neighbors, clashes with political authorities. Social change theme resides in the root of this culture. You may read Keloğlan, Nasreddin Hoca and Hacivat- Karagöz as they battle against the sedentary life. Rapid transformation from nomadic life has evolved to be rapid transformation from religious society. The battle against the city has turned out to be the battle against the values of the past. Religion is rooted in the city life as we know, from the first settlements in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. To get rid of nomadic life and religious life were like using a ladder to climb and leaving the ladder there for Turkish people and for humankind as well.(Not to destroy the ladder) The point here is that Turks still show its symptoms due to its change being top-down and not yet complete. You can still see nomadic Turks(yörüks) around and anti-modernization pro-religious sects among the population.
What is the outcome for the rest of the World? The basic outcome is to have the feeling of social change through reading Turkish culture. Western man doesn’t have the feeling of change as the culture has changed its intutitions over time and from bottom to up. Throughout the history Turkish leaders have imposed change onto the people. This is not ideal, not at all. Yet it’s different from the others. Russians are alike, Japanese are slightly different but in terms of leaders we can count them as well.
Turkish culture is the best top-down social change example and one of the best to observe the notion of “change.” The change is on the streets, the rapid transformation of society is alive here. If you want to observe humanity, you should definitely see it at the frontier. The borders of Europe, Russia, Turkey, Algiers are great opportunities to see what it is to be socially alive.
In all movies, tv shows, streets, buildings; you’ll see the social transformation. There is transformation everywhere; yet Turkish example seems to be the main theme in its literature and history.
