Functioning as the vessel of unmediated contact, broadened the peasant’s vision by enabling the sensory experience of novelty items. Familiarization with foreign phenomena, lifestyles, and consumption habits removed the barrier of otherwise insurmountable mud-brick walls. Visual and physical interaction with neighboring towns was the true measure of mobility, which could be exercised in cognitive and affective terms as well. Unlike the train which remained sluggish and inconvenient by comparison, or the radio which merely served as a street,” “one-way highways facilitated intimate and immediate encounters, making it possible for to get “villagers to the cities and at the same bring city people, especially politicians and civil servants, to the villages.” Familiar Places The farmers’ desire to visit neighboring towns and cities, they have time or “whenever pretext to do so,” was viewed as a further testament to the modernizing thrust of highways. Roads were capable of introducing urban ways to rural populations by rendering such trips easier and more alluring than before. Given increasing familiarity with novel means of transportation, peasants could display and act on their curiosity about foreign places. The punctuality of the bus rendered it a recognizable item, which could then be employed at the service of discovering other novelties. In Lerner’s account: Tosun’s words of 1950 returned to us: could have been half an hour to Ankara if it had ‘It a road.’ Now it did have a road. What was more, a bus was coming down the road. As it passed, jammed full, none of the passengers waved or even so much as stuck out a tongue at us. Without these unfailing signs of villagers out on a rare chartered bus, to celebrate a great occasion of some sort, we could only make the wild guess that Balgat had acquired a regular bus service. No longer an occasion for playful or festive behavior, the sighting of the bus is an unmistakably pedestrian incident. The prevalence of travel, its frequent and punctual nature, is not limited to the circulation of agricultural produce or consumer goods. Itinerant demeanor becomes a feature
Functioning as the vessel of unmediated contact, broadened the peasant’s vision by enabling the sensory experience of novelty items. Familiarization with foreign phenomena, lifestyles, and consumption habits removed the barrier of otherwise insurmountable mud-brick walls. Visual and physical interaction with neighboring towns was the true measure of mobility, which could be exercised in cognitive and affective terms as well. Unlike the train which remained sluggish and inconvenient by comparison, or the radio which merely served as a “one-way street,” highways facilitated intimate and immediate encounters, making it possible for “villagers to get to the cities and at the same bring city people, especially politicians and civil servants, to the villages.” Familiar Places The farmers’ desire to visit neighboring towns and cities, “whenever they have time or pretext to do so,” was viewed as a further testament to the modernizing thrust of highways. Roads were capable of introducing urban ways to rural populations by rendering such trips easier and more alluring than before. Given increasing familiarity with novel means of transportation, peasants could display and act on their curiosity about foreign places. The punctuality of the bus rendered it a recognizable item, which could then be employed at the service of discovering other novelties. In Lerner’s account: Tosun’s words of 1950 returned to us: ‘It could have been half an hour to Ankara if it had a road.’ Now it did have a road. What was more, a bus was coming down the road. As it passed, jammed full, none of the passengers waved or even so much as stuck out a tongue at us. Without these unfailing signs of villagers out on a rare chartered bus, to celebrate a great occasion of some sort, we could only make the wild guess that Balgat had acquired a regular bus service. No longer an occasion for playful or festive behavior, the sighting of the bus is an unmistakably pedestrian incident. The prevalence of travel, its frequent and punctual nature, is not limited to the circulation of agricultural produce or consumer goods. Itinerant demeanor becomes a feature