ხალხური დღესასწაულის ტრანსფორმაცია ეთნიკური იდენტობის მარკერად (მარიობა თურქეთში). THE TRANSFORMATION OF FOLK FESTIVAL INTO ETHNIC IDENTITY MARKER (MARIOBA IN TURKEY)

Abstract

The folk holiday “Marioba”, which originates from the church holiday of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is still carried out in Georgian settlements in Turkey. Although the holiday has been transformed and has lost its religious content, as a Georgian folk day, it is one of the most important facts in the traditional culture of Georgians in Turkey. For Georgians in Turkey “Marioba” is one of the most visible signs of ethnic identity. “Marioba” was preserved both by the autochthonous Georgians of Tao-Klarjeti (modern Artvin and Arzrum regions) and by the descendants of Georgians who migrated to the central regions of the Black Sea within the Ottoman Empire in the last two decades of the 19th century and establshed the compact settlements there (Marmara Sea and Black Sea region). “Marioba” is celebrated in summer. In some villages it is referred by the parallel name “Shuamtoba”. The term and holiday “Marioba” is preserved throughout Imerkhevi, Zemo Machakheli, Devskeli and Baginistskali gorges, Shuakhevi, Kheba and Maradidi, Katapkhia gorge, Murghuli gorge, Orji, Tkhiladze, Kartla communities, Georgian villages of Parkhlistskali gorge and others. In the 60s of the XX century, a group of Georgians from Imerkhevi moved to Samsun region, but they could not get used to it and started looking for a new place. They choose one of the agricultural areas of Karajabei district of Bursa region. After that, they initiated propaganda in the villages of Imerkhevi, gathered families wishing to relocate and bought a part of the agricultural lands with joint funds. A Georgian village was built in the 70s. The village is called Boghazkoy. The village, in fact, is bigger than the village. Nowadays 130 households live there and among them 90 housholds are Georgians, 450 persons are permanent residents, and the population increases sharply in summer. Along with Georgians, there are living people from the Trabzon region who identitify themselves as “Rumi” (Pontians), there are about five Turkish families as well. Until the beginning of the twenty-first century, the main branch of rural agriculture was the cattle breeding and farming. Here in the 70’s has been estblished the agricultural base for growing Zvaraki (“Kurban”), which was donated to “Bayram”, which made famous the whole region. The development of cattle-breeding was facilitated by the traditional experience of the Imerkhians in this field and presence of the extensive pastures on the site. At the same time, the Imerkhevians introduced knowledge of traditional Georgian agriculture, fruit growing and horticulture. The village flourished and was considered as one of the wealthiest settlement in the Bursa region. This allowed Georgians to give higher education to their children. The second generation of almost every family is educated in high schools. Since the beginning of the XXI century, the internal migration process has intensified, a large part of the youth has moved to the cites. The school was also closed. Now the permanent residents of Boghazkoy are mainly the retired people, and only in summer is the village again filled by the youth and children. The older generation of Georgians obviously know Georgian. A large part of the middle-aged population also speaks their native language. The knowledge of the native language is relatively low among the youth. Nevertheless, everyone is proud of their ethnicity – Georgian. The writer Ashref Ilmaz (Makharadze) is from this village. There is functioning the Georgian Community – Boghazkoy Georgian Association (Head: Dogan Ilmaz-Makharadze). They founded a Georgian folk ensemble. Under the leadership of this association, Marioba holday has been widely celebrated in recent years. The holyday has a form of a kind of festival. All Georgian families are involved in the preparation of the day. The format of the holiday is he following: The city dwellers are coinciding their vocational time-period with the date of the holiday and come to the village with their families. The population carefully organizes the open-air rural square, sets the stage, prepares traditional Imerkhevian food (especially the variety of kadas), women wear Imerkhevian clothes. The honoured guests are the representatives of the Embassy and Consulate of Georgia, local government, other Georgian associations, as well as those who are coming from Georgia to participate, etc. The holyday begins in the evening. The organizers of the holyday, representatives of the local government and our diplomatic services greet the population from the stage. A concert is held – they present Georgian folk dances, sing Georgian songs, respect the deceased villagers, distribute the traditional Imerkhevian bread, kadas, matsoni, etc. in containers. The current format of the day, obviously, has a completely new form and it diff ers from the “Marioba” held in the mountains of Imerkhevi (“Ta”). The traditional Georgian folk carnival rituals accompanying this day are also lost. Despite the completely new format, Boghazkoy’s “Marioba” appears to be an important expression of the Georgian identity of the local Georgians. This is the special essence and purpose of the holiday.