Politics of collective memory in education: Ataturk corners in Turkish schools

Abstract

Drawing upon Halbwachsian approach(1) to collective memory (1992/1980) and Foucault's notion of panoptical surveillance(2), the present study focuses on the management of Ataturk's (the founder of Turkish republic) legacy in the educational environment through the establishment of specific areas in institutions known as Ataturk corners, which act as mnemonic devices, state surveillance instruments and the spaces of absence. The study builds on insights about how veneration for him has been shaped in the educational environment, and how routine rituals, celebrations and commemorations have molded collective memory on Kemalist republican ideology. It further discusses how these sites have become a problematic issue, leading to clashes between Islamist and secularist fronts. It is important to understand whether individual memories engage critically and constructively with inherited Kemalist ideology. Thus, apart from the collective structuring sources on Ataturk corners, other focuses were considered: individual memories, newspaper news and website forums, in order to provide a full examination of subjectivities created by official and personal practices. The analyses showed a common pattern across similar cultural scripts, based on shared ideological ground on school memories related to Ataturk.