Iraklılık Kimliği: Irak'ta Kimliğin Alternatif Tarihi

Year 2019, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 169 - 202, 28.06.2019

Tunahan Yıldız

https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.527225

Abstract

Irak’ta kimlik meselesi
çoğunlukla yapaylık varsayımı üzerinden tartışılmaktadır. Bu ana akım yapaylık
tezi, devlet-altı ve devlet-üstü kimlikleri önceleyerek devlet kimliğinin
yokluğunu veya güçsüzlüğünü ispatlamaktan ziyade bu kimliğin üstünü
örtmektedir. Bu makale, Irak’ta devlet kimliğinin mevcudiyetini, nüfuzunu ve
kapsamını tarihsel ve güncel yansımaları üzerinden araştırmaktadır. Makale, Iraklılığın
diğer aidiyet boyutlarının yanında bir alternatif teşkil edip etmediğini, bu
kimliğin hangi yollarla kurgulandığını ve siyasî ve toplumsal olarak nasıl bir
karşılığa sahip olduğunu araştırmaktadır. Bu anlamda, Irak siyasetini ve
toplumunu tarihsel olarak okumanın ana paradigması olan yapaylık tezine
karşılık Iraklılık kimliği üzerinde konumlandırılan bir bakışın Irak’ta
kimliğin tarihini alternatif bir yoldan okuma imkânı verdiği ve alternatif bir kimlik
tarihi ortaya çıkardığı savunulmaktadır. Bu okuma neticesinde bu kimlik tarihine
dair birbiriyle alakalı dört farklı sonuca ulaşılmaktadır: İlk olarak, incelenen
tarih içerisinde Iraklılığın önemli bir ideolojik/kültürel etken olarak hazır
bulunduğu görülmektedir. İkinci olarak, Iraklılığın Irak’taki diğer aidiyet
boyutlarıyla çoğu zaman bir etkileşim içerisinde olduğu gözlemlenmektedir.
Üçüncü olarak, dönemlere ve aktörlere bağlı biçimde Iraklılığın kurgulanışında
önemli farklılaşmalar tespit edilmektedir. Dördüncü olarak, Iraklılığın
devletin ve seçkinlerin politikalarının ötesinde toplumsal yayılımı gözetilmektedir.

Keywords

Irak, Iraklılık, Milli Kimlik, Devlet Kimliği, Yapaylık

The Iraqi Identity: An Alternative History of Identity in Iraq

Abstract

The issue of identity in Iraq has been debated usually
through the lens of the artificiality assumption. This mainstream thesis assumes
an absence or weakness of the state/national identity, and prioritizes sub-state
and supra-state identities. This article examines the existence, scope and
content of the national identity in Iraq through its historical and current manifestations.
It questions whether the Iraqi identity has constituted an alternative
dimension of belonging among the multiple identities of Iraq, in which ways
this identity is imagined and constructed, and how it is performed in social
and political domains. In this context, it argues that an examination of the Iraqi
identity gives an alternative reading of the history of identity in Iraq. Such
a reading draws four interrelated conclusions: First, the Iraqi identity has
been an important ideological/cultural factor in Iraqi history. Second,
Iraqiness has often been in interaction with other identity dimensions. Third,
there have been significant differentiations of the imaginations of the Iraqi
identity depending on the period and actors. Last, the Iraqi identity has
extended beyond the policies of the state and elites, and has expanded into the
Iraqi society.

Keywords

Iraq, Iraqiness, National Identity, State Identity, Artificiality

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