Language reforms as a part of the nation-building process in Early Republican Turkey

Annotation. The article is devoted to the language policy of early republican Turkey. This issue has gained particular relevance in light of the re-evaluation of the role of the Kemalist reforms after the Justice and Development Party (JDP) came to power in Turkey in 2002.

The chronological scope of the article is limited to the era of high Kemalism (1923-1938). During this period, the attention of the republican elite focused on rethinking and reorganizing national life, including the Turkish language. The authorities considered language homogenization to be a key condition for achieving national unity and political stability.

Thus, the purpose of this article is to assess the impact of specific reforms, in particular, the transition to the Latin-script alphabet in 1928 and the establishment of the Turkish Language Society (Turk. Türk Dil Kurumu) in 1932, as well as the creation of the Sun Language Theory (Turk. Güneş Dil Teorisi) in 1936 on the formation of a modern national identity in Turkey.

The article is based on Turkish sources and literature, as well as on Western studies on the reform of the Turkish language. The methodology of this work comprises principles of objectivity and historicism.

As a result, the reasons for the reforms in the field of language are revealed, which consisted not only in raising the level of literacy, economic modernization, but also in the destruction of the cultural and political heritage of the Ottoman Empire and, thus, legitimizing the power of the new Ankara government. It is concluded that the language policy in Turkey in the late 1920s - 1930s remains one of the most illustrative and successful examples of the influence of language on the formation of national identity.

Keywords: Turkey, language reforms of M.K. Ataturk, Kemalism, Turkish nationalism, identity

For citation: Zhigulskaya D. V., Language Reforms as a Part of the Nation-Building Process in Early Republican Turkey. // Modern oriental studies. 2022. 4 (3). https://doi.org/10.24412/ 2686-9675-3-2022-54-69