Batman Kıraathaneleri

Abstract

This study deals with other public sphere experiences outside the bourgeois experience. Teahouses in Batman province were examined with this axiom. Batman province is close to the border and has a heterogeneous social structure because of internal dynamics. The city is sociologically interesting with its teahouses, which appear as frequent places on its streets and squares. Within the scope of qualitative research method, 13 people were interviewed in Batman. At the end of field research, the collected data were evaluated by applying descriptive analysis technique. Coffeehouses and teahouses in largest cities of the middleeast, such as Istanbul and Cairo, are, above all, a place of conversation, and in Batman it is not different. At the end of field research, however, it was found that these spaces played an important role not only as areas of conversation, but also in social, ideological and cultural changes in Batman. The function of the teahouses examined can be explained by the paradox of visibility and isolation. These places are a way to socialize with friends and escape from the oversight of a relatively small city where everyone knows each other. These spaces, which determine women's right to the city through flexible seating plans and eye harassment, are the projections of patriarchal hegemony in the city. Participants who resisted the accepted official views and lifestyles were not visible here. Despite all exclusions related to the functioning of public negotiation, the experiences of daily life, togetherness, listening, action and sometimes solidarity are included in these examined teahouses.