Bathing the Dead, the Dirty Work: Stigmatization of Gassals in Modern Türkiye

Abstract

The present study examines the transformation of the profession of Gassals, dead body bathers in Islamic culture, from a prestigious role to a stigmatized job in modern Türkiye. Through a qualitative research design, this study employs a combination of participant observation and in-depth interviews with Gassals in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. In the study conducted with the purposeful convenience sampling technique, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 participants (3 male,16 female). Ultimately, the study raises three major modernity-related claims: Modernity marginalizes death and excludes it from daily life, primarily functions to secularize the public sphere and excludes religious issues, and presents the dead body as dirty, as it sees the body as a biological mechanism, as a product of standardization and institutionalization. Their job involves physical contamination due to direct contact with deceased bodies, and this solid physical taint overshadows the overall dignity of the profession. The three main findings of the study are important. First, community members perceive it as a “reminder of death.” The second is the modern human tendency to avoid death in the domains of everyday life, primarily through institutions such as hospitals. Lastly, the stigma toward gassals may be explained by them losing their status in the modern era under the influence of institutionalization despite enjoying a prestigious status in the past.