The Transfer of Spatial Memory with Collective Practices Among the Generations of Lausanne Exchangees in Bursa

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal how exchangees construct their public spaces for collective practices in a built environment that is abandoned and analyse these places along with collective practices retrospectively through changing daily life practices. Exchangees migrated from Greece to Turkey because of the population exchange decision which was taken in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Due to the fact that the exchangee's identity and culture are visible through collective practices in public spaces, eight collective practices, which are weddings, hıdrellez, religious celebrations, official holiday celebrations, seeing-soldiers-off, seasonal preparations, funeral ceremonies, and public announcements of bad news are selected. These places, where collective practices are performed, are the subject of the research. The first-generation exchanges, for their collective practices, besides building spaces of their own, also settled in places that were left by the Greeks. The study focuses on these public spaces. The sample group of this study is the exchangees in Bursa, Görükle village who migrated from Greece. The methods of the study are analysing archive materials in the form of text, photo and maps and memory interviews conducted with the second and third generation exchangees who still use these public places. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the exchangees restructured the collective practice places in order to establish a sense of belonging and reinterpreting their culture and identity in the new settlement. The study concluded that the places of collective practices, spatial memory, the identity of the exchangee and the public spaces left by the Greeks have been transferred by spatial memory. This study reveals the influence of spatial memory, the relevance of belonging, reinterpreting of exchangees’ culture and identity over the restructuring of the physical environment and the transfer of these between generations.