[PARADOX OF IDENTITY SYMBOLIC: ANALYSIS OF ACCULTERATION AMONG KURDS NEW GENERATIONS IN TÜRKIYE] PARADOKS IDENTITI SIMBOLIK: ANALISIS AKULTERASI GENERASI BAHARU KURDI DI TURKI

Abstract

Abstrak

Perubahan global dan modenisasi kontemporari telah mewujudkan persekitaran yang mendedahkan generasi baharu Kurdi di Turki kepada tekanan asimilasi budaya arus perdana yang tinggi. Sebahagian besar literatur sedia ada tertumpu kepada naratif sejarah dan konflik pemisah, termasuk polemik akulturasi generasi terawal serta pemberontakan Parti Pekerja Kurdistan (PKK). Walau bagaimanapun, analisis mendalam mengenai cara generasi baharu merundingkan identiti warisan mereka dalam era kontemporari masih wujud sebagai suatu lompang kajian yang signifikan. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kesan proses akulturasi budaya terhadap transformasi dan penghakisan identiti etnik dalam kalangan generasi baharu Kurdi di Turki. Kajian ini mengaplikasikan teori akulturasi dan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif bagi meneliti dinamika budaya tersebut. Dapatan daripada kajian lapangan menunjukkan tahap asimilasi yang tinggi terhadap budaya arus perdana Turki. Hal ini mencetuskan transisi yang drastik; generasi baharu Kurdi kini beralih daripada pengamalan budaya warisan secara aktif kepada pengekalan identiti etnik yang hanya bersifat simbolik. Akibatnya, elemen-elemen teras seperti bahasa ibunda dan amalan kesenian tradisional (seperti muzik warisan) semakin terhakis dan sekadar berfungsi sebagai penanda identiti luaran. Dari sudut kebaharuan, kajian ini mengisi jurang literatur berkaitan akulturasi dalam kalangan generasi baharu Kurdi di Turki yang masih kurang diberikan perhatian dalam kajian terdahulu. Kajian ini menyumbang kepada pemahaman empirikal tentang bagaimana generasi baharu Kurdi merundingkan identiti etnik mereka melalui proses asimilasi budaya dan bahasa dalam kehidupan seharian, sekali gus memperluaskan aplikasi teori akulturasi Berry dalam konteks komuniti etnik minoriti yang menetap di Turki.Kajian ini menawarkan sumbangan kontemporari daripada konflik politik tradisional kepada realiti sosiologi generasi pasca-reformasi, serta merungkai paradoks kelangsungan budaya minoriti di bawah hegemoni budaya dominan di Turki.

Kata kunci: Kurdi, Turki, etnik minoriti, akulturasi, pemeliharaan budaya

Abstract

Global change and contemporary modernization have created an environment that exposes the new generation of Kurds in Turkey to high pressures of mainstream cultural assimilation. Most of the existing literature focuses on historical narratives and separatist conflicts, including the polemics of acculturation of the earliest generations and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgency. However, an in-depth analysis of how the new generation negotiates their heritage identity in the contemporary era still exists as a significant research gap. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the impact of the process of cultural acculturation on the transformation and erosion of ethnic identity among the new generation of Kurds in Turkey. This study applies acculturation theory and uses a qualitative approach to examine the dynamics of this culture. Findings from the field study indicate a high level of assimilation to mainstream Turkish culture. This has triggered a drastic transition; the new generation of Kurds is now shifting from actively practicing their heritage culture to maintaining a merely symbolic ethnic identity. As a result, core elements such as their mother tongue and traditional artistic practices (such as heritage music) are increasingly eroding and merely functioning as external markers of identity. From a novelty perspective, this study fills a gap in the literature on acculturation among the new generation of Kurds in Turkey that has not been given much attention in previous studies. This study contributes to an empirical understanding of how the new generation of Kurds negotiate their ethnic identity through the process of cultural and linguistic assimilation in everyday life, thus expanding the application of Berry's acculturation theory in the context of ethnic minority communities while remain residing in Turkey.

Keywords: Kurds, Türkiye, ethnic minority, acculturation, cultural preservation