AN ORAL HISTORICAL RESEARCH ON SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE AND
PLACE-IDENTITY IN POLONEZKOY
ABSTRACT
Socio-economic and socio-cultural change of Polonezkoy throughout its history
and the impact of this change upon the social structures and identities are the main
research questions of this study. Polonezkoy, a Polish village located 40 km. away from
Istanbul, was established by Polish people in the 19th century as a shelter for the
immigrant community (Polish colony) and after passing through several different stages
in years, finally transformed into a touristic attraction place that currently functions as a
recreation area for some Istanbul residents to spend their spare time and weekends.
This study has aimed to conduct oral history interviews in order to collect data
about the sociological and cultural structure of the village. Based on this oral historical
study, this research intends to analyze the social structure of Polonezkoy and different
cultural identities as the outcomes of this social structure within the context of its
historical transformations from 1850’s to the present.
There is a substantial literature which has linked places with the identities from a
global/local/glocal point of view. This paper takes its motivation from
these discussions
and it questions the influence that the transformation of place might exert on identity in
the case of Polonezkoy through an oral history research.