SCRIPT AS AN INSTRUMENT OF POLITICS: ORTHOGRAPHIC REFORMS AND IDEOLOGICAL CONTESTATIONS IN THE TURKIC WORLD
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article examines the historical trajectory of script reforms among Turkic peoples, focusing on their origins, implementation, and far-reaching effects on political, social, and cultural developments from the early 20th century to the present. Using Uzbekistan and related Turkic nations as case studies, the research investigates how changes in writing systems—from Arabic to Latin and Cyrillic scripts—were deeply intertwined with state-building, modernization efforts, and shifting geopolitical alliances. The analysis highlights the historical context in which these reforms emerged, the ideological debates they sparked, and their impact on national identity, education, and cultural heritage. By drawing on historical sources and scholarly interpretations, the article demonstrates that orthographic reforms served as pivotal historical events that not only reflected but also shaped the broader historical processes of nation formation, cultural transformation, and regional integration in the Turkic world.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are disseminated under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC-BY), which licenses unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is appropriately cited. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
How to Cite
References
1.El Bakri, Alia Arafat. Script and Identity: Arab Intellectual Perspectives on the Turkish Alphabet Reform. M.A. thesis, Sabancı University, 2013. https://acikbilim.yok.gov.tr/bitstream/handle/20.500.12812/232367/yokAcikBilim_10003387.pdf?sequence=-1&isAllowed=y.
2.Lummus, Wesley Wayne. One Nation, Two Languages: Latinization and Language Reform in Turkey and Azerbaijan, 1905-1938. PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 2021. https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/aa36320e-6ba6-45bb-9f4c-1754d41b9de2/content.
3.Yılmaz, Kaya. "Critical Examination of the Alphabet and Language Reforms Implemented in the Early Years of the Turkish Republic." Journal of Social Studies Education Research, vol. 2, no. 1, 2011, pp. 59–82. http://jsser.org/index.php/jsser/article/download/96/91.
4."A Few Words on the Turkish Alphabet Reform." International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 1973, pp. 1–15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27756120.
5."Kazakh and Turkic Alphabet Reform, 1900–1939: Change Without Change." Knowledge Central Asia, Illinois Press, 2025. https://iopn.library.illinois.edu/pressbooks/knowledgecentralasia/chapter/chapter-10-kazakh-and-turkic-alphabet-reform-1900-1939-change-without-change/.
6."A Study on the Change of Turkish Alphabet: Research on a Cultural Identity." ATypI, 2025. https://atypi.org/presentation/a-study-on-the-change-of-turkish-alphabet-research-on-a-cultural-identity/.
7.Sinitsyn, Fedor L. "Language Reform in Turkey and Soviet Latinisers, 1920s–1930s." Modern Onomastics, no. 2, 2025, pp. 106–119. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0130386425020098.