Millî Kimliğin Yeniden Üretiminde Kültürel Sembollerin Önemi: Azerbaycan ve Hâr-ı Bülbül Örneği
The Role of Cultural Symbols in the Reproduction of National Identity: The Case of Azerbaijan and the Khari Bulbul

Summary/Abstract: Purpose: The objective of this study is to analyze how the symbol of khari bulbul has been transformed into a central carrier of meaning in the process of reproducing Azerbaijani national identity in the context of Karabakh. The study will also examine the social, cultural, and political mechanisms through which this transformation has taken place. Assuming that national identities are not fixed and immutable structures but rather social constructions continuously reproduced through collective memory, public emotions, and symbolic narratives over historical processes, the study seeks to make visible the functional role of cultural symbols in identity formation. In this framework, the term ‘Khari Bulbul’ is addressed not only as a historical cultural motif, but also as a dynamic symbolic resource. It has been re-signified in the aftermath of the Karabakh Wars and has come to reinforce the sense of national belonging. Method: The present study is grounded in a qualitative research approach. Theoretically, it adopts Anthony Smith’s ethno-symbolist framework as its main perspective, while the functions of symbols in fostering social integration and establishing normative order are examined within the functionalist perspective of Durkheim and Parsons. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative discourse analysis, with the analysis primarily informed by official discourses, public representations, and cultural productions in the post–Second Karabakh War period. In this context, the study seeks to elucidate visible the functions of the symbol, khari bulbul in the process of reproducing national identity. Findings: The findings of the study reveal that the symbol of khari bulbul transcends its historical and folkloric origins and plays an active role in the reorganization of collective memory within the context of Karabakh narratives. The circulation of the symbol through literary texts, public rituals, commemorative practices, and state-supported cultural representations enables the integration of individual emotional experiences into a shared narrative framework, thereby facilitating the regulation of public emotions. In this process, khari bulbul emerges not merely as an object of remembrance related to the past, but also as a multi-layered symbolic mechanism that contributes to the construction of political legitimacy on a cultural level through narratives of victory, reunion, and reappropriation. The findings demonstrate that khari bulbul has become a central symbol actively reproduced in the contemporary public sphere of Azerbaijani national identity, carrying emotional, cultural, and political functions simultaneously. From the perspective of the study of national identity formation and nationalism studies, the case of khari bulbul in Azerbaijan is worthy of particular attention. It is regarded as a nonfictional symbolic configuration that serves to reconstruct national identity by building a bridge between history and the future. This is achieved in accordance with the ethnosymbolist approach. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that the symbol of khari bulbul, in the context of Karabakh, functions not merely as a historical cultural element, but as a dynamic mechanism of identity production through which the relationship between historical continuity and the modern political context is actively reconstructed via symbols. This reconstruction is achieved via the ethno-symbolist approach, as has been suggested by numerous scholars in the field. The case of khari bulbul provides a concrete example for the ethno-symbolism literature by illustrating how cultural symbols in the modern nation-state context operate as tools that regulate collective memory, manage public emotions, and produce political legitimacy on a cultural level. From a functionalist perspective, khari bulbul can be interpreted, in accordance with the theories of Durkheim and Parsons, as a regulatory symbolic structure that serves to reinforce social integration, render shared values visible, and reproduce the normative framework of national identity. In this respect, the study demonstrates that symbols do not merely carry representational meanings; rather, they also function as active components in the regulation of public emotions, the soft circulation of political discourse, and the cultural production of social consent. The article makes a significant contribution to the existing literature on symbolic politics, both in theoretical and empirical terms. It examines the role of cultural symbols in the formation of identity within the nation-state context, utilising an integrated ethno-symbolist and functionalist framework.

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