MARRIAGE

Marriage

Marriage

Introduction

This study examined in ethnographic detail the social construction and functions of the symbols, cultural and rituals meanings of a “modern” Turkish wedding. It provides a participant observer's first-hand account of a celebration of a Turkish marriage in Adana, Turkey that reflects the symbolic traditional and “modern” expectations, customs and rituals. (Rose and Ozcan, 2007)

First it should be clear that what is ethnography?

“The study of people in their natural settings, a descriptive account of culture and social life in a defined social system and it is based on qualitative methods (e.g. unstructured interviews, detailed observations, analysis of documents).” (Marchese, 2005)

Basically, ethnography is a qualitative methodology whereby the researcher seeks to understand a culture from the standpoint of a cultural insider, or what it is truly like to live and exist within a particular framework (customs, religion, taboos, thoughts and ideas). Every entity that come together to make culture and how individuals interact in this social framework. This “structural-consensus” is created by institutions (i.e. economic/political, marriage, religious, educational, familial) through the same dominant value system and thereby creates a “collective consciousness” leading to solidarity within a society and social order. The institution of marriage is found in nearly all Western and non-Western societies. It has been noted that while there may be “variations across social classes, religions, and ethnic groups or racial, the wedding ceremony usually includes some common roles, images and rituals.” Wedding ceremonies include the best man and maid of honor, bride maids and grooms, an audience of witnesses (the guests), an exchange of vows and rings, a designated person who will perform the ceremony and pronounce the marriage to be a legal union, and a reception after the ceremony with food, drinks, music, dancing and other traditional activities. (Yilmaz, 2005)

Symbolic interaction theory is proposed that the process of social interaction facilitates the formation of meanings for individuals, as well as creating shared meanings for groups and societies. While guests at a wedding share a role set, they will still create their own meanings (or definitions) by analyzing the physical surroundings and the actions of others during social interaction. Reality, therefore, becomes a collective and social construct through this social interaction and collective sharing of social and symbolic meanings of this wedding. (Ustuner, Ger and Holton, 2000)

Methodology for this Ethnography

Acknowledged as a mode of qualitative research in the social sciences, ethnography is scientific method that provides descriptions that “allow us to understand a situation as the participants themselves understand it.” At its core, an ethnography is an evaluation of the systems of meaning (the symbolic) and a process of “mediating frames of meaning” involving not just the participants, but the ethnographer and his audience. (Geertz, 1973)

Being a student of Nature - Anthropology, I was engaged in researching, observing, interviewing, and recording the activities of this Turkish wedding. Except for the groom's father and older brother, I was a complete participant observer who immersed himself in the wedding rituals and festivities without conveying my intentions to my audience, ...