Looking Back
Armenian Emigrants, Nationalism and Modern Turkey
Will be published approx. on 19. February 2026
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-7556-5466-6 (ISBN)
Description
Looking Back is a compelling account of how Armenians, as migrants in Canada, remember their past lives in Turkey and make sense of their experiences in two very different landscapes. Anchored in the workings of the Turkish nation, theirs are stories about loss, denial, trauma, and discrimination on the one hand, resilience, survival, and community on the other.
Bayar's in-depth examination tackles questions about memory, citizenship, and being a minority inside a nationalist landscape while revealing rich and multilayered accounts of everyday encounters with institutions, friends, and strangers. Looking Back is a timely study about the costs of nation-building and the ways minorities navigate an exclusionary landscape.
Bayar's in-depth examination tackles questions about memory, citizenship, and being a minority inside a nationalist landscape while revealing rich and multilayered accounts of everyday encounters with institutions, friends, and strangers. Looking Back is a timely study about the costs of nation-building and the ways minorities navigate an exclusionary landscape.
Reviews / Votes
This is an excellent study of how minoritized populations like the Armenians who have had genocidal violence in their past negotiate two diasporas, a diaspora in modern Turkey where they become minoritized through state and societal violence on their own ancestral lands, and a diaspora in contemporary Canada where they join a multitude of immigrant populations. * Fatma Muege Goecek, Professor, University of Michigan, USA * This brilliant, beautifully written investigation of the experiences of Armenians moving to Canada is a treasure trove-rich life histories recounting 20th-century Turkish history, and a superlative meditation on the perils and promises of nationalism. A very great achievement, deserving praise and readers. * John A. Hall, Professor, McGill University, Canada *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
432 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7556-5466-6 (9780755654666)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2026
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€94.49
Available for download
E-Book
01/2026
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€94.49
Available for download
Person
Yesim Bayar is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at St. Lawrence University, New York. She is the author of Formation of the Turkish Nation-State (1920-1938).
Content
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Talking about the Violent Past
State Violence and Imagining the Nation
1915: "The Heavy Sound of Silence" and Remembering
Weaving the Past with the Present
Chapter 2: Encounters with the State
The Myriad Ways of Pursuing Turkification: The State's Lens
Experiencing and Making Sense of "Hot Nationalism"
Serving the Nation: Military Service, Citizenship and Being a Minority
Further Encounters with the State and "Nation Talk"
Chapter 3: Education, Nationalist Politics, and Minority Lives
(Re)Designing the Educational Domain: The State's Lens
Life Chances and Managing Institutional Hurdles
Biography, History, and Unearthing the Past
Sociability and Discrimination: Interactions with Friends and Teachers
Chapter 4: Remembering Places, and People
Remembering Places: Life in Istanbul
Remembering Summers on the Princes' Islands
Interactions Across the Ethnoreligious Divide
Chapter 5: Encounters with Strangers
Speaking Turkish and Regulating Surnames: The State's Lens
Speaking Turkish at the "Right Places" and the "Right Way"
"Living with One's Name": Strategies and Practices in Everyday Interactions
Conclusion
References
Index
Introduction
Chapter 1: Talking about the Violent Past
State Violence and Imagining the Nation
1915: "The Heavy Sound of Silence" and Remembering
Weaving the Past with the Present
Chapter 2: Encounters with the State
The Myriad Ways of Pursuing Turkification: The State's Lens
Experiencing and Making Sense of "Hot Nationalism"
Serving the Nation: Military Service, Citizenship and Being a Minority
Further Encounters with the State and "Nation Talk"
Chapter 3: Education, Nationalist Politics, and Minority Lives
(Re)Designing the Educational Domain: The State's Lens
Life Chances and Managing Institutional Hurdles
Biography, History, and Unearthing the Past
Sociability and Discrimination: Interactions with Friends and Teachers
Chapter 4: Remembering Places, and People
Remembering Places: Life in Istanbul
Remembering Summers on the Princes' Islands
Interactions Across the Ethnoreligious Divide
Chapter 5: Encounters with Strangers
Speaking Turkish and Regulating Surnames: The State's Lens
Speaking Turkish at the "Right Places" and the "Right Way"
"Living with One's Name": Strategies and Practices in Everyday Interactions
Conclusion
References
Index