Abstract
My article is a development of the research report that I pursued, in 2007, among the groups of Tatars and Turks, in the villages of Bairamdede, Başpunar, and Cobadin (Constanţa County). In what follows, local material culture is investigated in terms of its relevance for the ethnic (self) identification of the above-mentioned minority groups. Folk crafts, cuisine, and weaving artifacts are such “physical” embodiments of a series of symbols and traditions that the Turks and the Tatars as well specifically maintain as cultural resources for their ethnicity. The ethnographic heritage and the religious communion appear to interweave both among the Tatar and Turkish people, allowing them (from case to case) either to preserve traditional insignias, or to integrate within one spiritual belonging to Islam.
Keywords: ethnic identity, religion, crafts, cuisine, weaving tradition, Tatars, Turks, Dobrudja, Romania.
Cuvinte-cheie: identitate etnică, religie, meșteșuguri, bucătărie, tradiția țesutului, tătari, turci, Dobrogea, România.