Asserting ethnicity: the Tatars from Dobruja (Romania)
Asserting ethnicity: the Tatars from Dobruja (Romania)

Author(s): Adriana Cupcea
Subject(s): Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Inter-Ethnic Relations, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Sociology of Education, Politics and Identity, Identity of Collectives
Published by: ISPMN Institutul pentru Studierea Problemelor Minorităţilor Naţionale
Keywords: Tatars; Dobruja; Ethnic minorities; Ethnic identity; Identity reconstruction;
Summary/Abstract: The research is a descriptive analysis of the ethnic identity dynamics of Tatars in Dobruja. We tried to identify how the ethnic identity of the Tatar community of Dobruja, of Sunni Islamic faith was rediscovered and reconfigured after 1990. The research analyses the representative reorganization on ethnic basis that took place after the fall of the communist regime, emphasizing the ways of action and interaction of this organization in the community, through which ethnic and religious traditions, became important elements in the identity reconstruction of Dobruja Tatars during this period. We also followed the way the ethnic specificity articulates in the inner ethnic group, in different social contexts, in the religious life, in linguistic situations, in family relations and in economic contexts. From the methodological point of view, the research is based on the field research (interviews, participative observation) conducted in urban and rural communities of Tatars in Constanța county, where the largest Tatar communities of Dobrogea live.

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