Gülnur Demirci MA

PhD candidate

Area(s) of interest: Memory Studies, Migration History & Diaspora, Transnational History

Cohort/Start PhD: 2024-2025

Embodied Memory in Post-violence Contexts. Circassians – A Transnational Analysis

University of Groningen
Supervisors: Prof. dr. K.M.J. Sanchez-Summerer, Prof. dr. B. Petersson, en dr. C. Berglund
Duration of appointment: 01-09-2024 / 31-08-2028

This PhD project investigates how contemporary Circassian communities in Türkiye, Russia, and Germany have developed and deployed embodied memory practices across the boundaries of nations. Focusing on the post-Soviet context, it explores the ways Circassians have been engaged in memory practices through multi-sensual and bodily representations of the forced migration and genocidal violence their ancestors went through. It examines how the practices and politics of cultural memory are closely entangled with the ways Circassians position themselves in their host countries and form connections with their historical homeland.

This project offers a multi-scalar analysis by exploring how corporeal practices of cultural memory have been informed by local (in-group diasporic context and agents of memory), national (socio-political developments in the receiving countries), and transnational developments. It aims to contribute to the understanding of post-violence and post-migration cultural memory and provide insights into the role of diverse socio-political contexts and transnational networks in developing bodily memory practices.