TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

CHAPTER X
CONCLUSION
In the broadest framework, the Qizilbash Identity might be regarded as a product of two
separate but interrelated currents. To explain these two currents, I will make use of
Marxian scheme of ‘infrastructure’ and ‘superstructure’ with some specific adaptations
to my own framework. I am inclined to call the first one the ‘deep current’ which
corresponds to the ‘infrastructure’ in the Marxian terminology and is constituted by the
anthropological, social and cultural norms, forms, and structures on – or within - which
the social entity sustains. The other current is the ideological and political developments
which rise on the ‘deep current’ but have a two-prong interaction with it. Therefore, I
would like to utilize the term ‘surface current’.
The ‘deep current’ traces back to the pre-Islamic periods of the Turkish history.
After converting to Islam, Turkish masses, especially at the public level, did not totally
abandon their old habits, traditions, and beliefs. On the contrary, many pre-Islamic
Turkish beliefs and practices some of which contradicted the Islamic principles,
survived under a vague varnish of Islam. Without doubt, the more the urbanization
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