VOICES AND TRACES Volume: 1 - Oral History Interviews with Journal Publishers

Recent developments in the world and in Turkey have accelerated the studies on the history of thought and brought these discussions to the center. Islamism, too, constitutes one of the most vibrant areas of Turkey's political and intellectual life. The increase and interest in the number of discussions and publications on Islamic thought determined the quality of the studies, while at the same time allowing the sources to diversify. As in all political views, press and publications have an important place in Islamist thought. Ideas in this field have carried out publishing activities in order to convey their message to large masses. In this sense, in order to understand the history of Islamism, it is necessary to understand the history of the press.
The Islamist Journals Project (İDP), which was implemented by the Scientific Studies Association (ILEM) in 2013, aimed to add a new dimension to the thought and debate on Islamism and to contribute to the rethinking of Islamist issues through journals, which are the most important primary source of Islamist thought. Within the scope of the project, these journals were archived and made available digitally. The fact that the printed source has become accessible has illuminated a large area in the context of the determination, explanation and comparison of words, actions and facts in this field. The IDP Oral History study further expanded this field and colored and diversified the period researches through the personal testimonies of the actors who gave life to the printed sources. This book in your hand includes interviews with 34 people within the scope of oral history. This book, in which 34 different names testify, gives a lot of information about the adventure, transformations and fractures of Islamist thought in Turkey after 1970. These narratives may not radically change what we know, on the contrary, they may confirm the presuppositions we have in the study of the period, provide a new perspective, or point to a point that is not always said behind what is said. What we want to do with this book is not to confirm the information and fact in the printed sources, but to approach the period under study in different ways.