Impurity as Criticism Reports from a Black Sea Village in Turkey

Abstract

Essays on gender relations in rural Turkey end up all too often in the pitfall of fixed ascriptions that portray women mainly as victims of their own society. The following is an attempt to challenge this discourse of victimization and fixity by drawing on female bodily expressions. Women in rural Turkey counteract social expectations and male dominance through bodily crises. This case study shows the potential for change that is inherent in spirit possession, which is commonly considered backward or traditional. Bodily crises in this sense are conceptualized not only as an expression of weakness, but also as a female counter-hegemonic potential to express the unspeakable.