Religion and Ethnicity: Muslim Turkish and Tatar Identity in Dobruja (Romania) throughout the 20th Century

Abstract

In my study I approached Turkish and Tatar communities in Dobruja (Romania) in the context ofthe ethnic and religious diversity in the Balkans, which Maria Todorova considers to be as theonly continuous traces of a common continuous Ottoman heritage. Using the field research anddocumentary research, I tried to identify the political, economic, cultural and social factors that havedetermined the evolution of the collective mentality of the Muslim Turks and Tatars in Dobruja fromperceiving themselves as a religious community to a self-perception as ethnic community throughoutthe 20th Century. Finally, I tried to identify the present overlays between the two hypostases (religiousand ethnic) in the collective imaginary of the Turkish and Tatar Muslims in Dobruja.