Paul Stirling was an anthropologist who lived in the villages of Sakaltutan and Elbaşı in Kayseri between 1949 and 1951 for his scientific studies. Later, he made various visits until the 90s to document social change. His doctoral thesis titled “THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF TURKISH PEASANT COMMUNITIES,” his 1965 monograph titled Turkish Village, his 8000 pages of field notes, and thousands of photographs could not be disseminated as much as they deserved after his death in 1998. These contents can be accessed at the following address.
http://era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/Stirling/index.html
Turkish writers of that period generally focused on certain political or literary purposes, so those “small and everyday” details that could be captured through the eyes of a foreigner like Stirling might sometimes have been overlooked. Because Paul Stirling and his wife Margaret were complete strangers to the culture and tried to record everything important and unimportant due to their anthropological approach, their works hold great value for understanding our past—offering details ranging from the terms used in kinship relations to the relationships of men with their homes.
From family structure to migrant labor, from agricultural practices to commercial initiatives, Paul Stirling’s works may be one of the most effective instruments we have for getting to know this culture, which is as familiar to us as it is foreign.