Abstract:

Migration as a spatial displacement that divides the continuity of common experience can also be viewed as a “dominant memory” in group memory. Migration and the new urban life that comes with the migration change the migrants’ perceptions and habits on time and space. However, remembered and forgotten are reproduced in a new context. In this study based on the life experiences of women who immigrated from Bulgaria to Turkey, memory is discussed in the framework of relationship with a change of location (migration). Accordingly, it is emphasized that memory may be distributed to social interactions and space. Here, a qualitative research design was applied in accordance with the objectives of the study and in-depth interviews were conducted with the participants. In these interviews ten female participants’ -who migrated to Turkey from Bulgaria across different date ranges- experiences on pre-migration, migration process and post-migration are discussed. Among the three processes recalled, the village life in Bulgaria and the tobacco business that shaped it; the migration to Bursa and after the migration, the themes of living struggles and adaptation to new life came to the fore.  As a result, this study reveals that social memory -independently from ontological discussions- can be dispersed in group interactions and structuring of space and established from today.    

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