Abstract:

In Turkish Modernization discussions, religion and religious life issues are often overshadowed by political historiography and laicism discussions in the political arena. Conflict and incorporation paradigms which dominate the Turkish modernization literature are not adequate specifically to explain the religious life and opposition in the periphery of the early Republican period. In order to discuss this aspect of Turkish Modernization, Subaltern historiography could be employed. When the peripheral religious opposition evaluated through Subaltern perspective, actors resisting against the Republican modernization with methods and instruments available to them can be understood. Particularly the memoirs written by people living in this period prove to be basic sources of information for such analysis. Memoirs of religiously conservatives actors will be analyzed from the aspect of Subaltern studies. As a result, subaltern historiography based on memoirs offers new possibilities of asking questions and finding answers about the alternative readings of Turkish modernization

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