Woman and Nation in Turkey

The relation between woman and nation is a controversial issue which covers a significant part in the feminist literature and gender theories. The first and foremost theoretical study about "woman and nation" is the theory of Yuval Davis and Anthias (1989) who hold that the women are participants of the nation from five aspects, that is, "biological reproducers," "reproducers of the boundaries," "transmitters of culture," "signifiers of ethnic-national differences" and "participants of national struggles." The aim of this study is to examine whether it is possible to assert such a relation for Turkey through the discourse analysis of women journals Kad n Gazetesi (1947-1950) and Kad n Sesi (1957-1960) which are the products of a different periods of the republican regime.