ABSTRACT
Periodically, even since the founding years of the Turkish Republic, there have been attempts to ‘discover’ the Alevi. These accounts have usually followed a pattern: the reporter stresses certain Alevi qualities: their humanism, their loyalty to the state, the equality of men and women, and the ‘hidden’ or occluded rituals which lie at the heart of their society. The Alevi then appear lost to the public view until the next intrepid writer, who produces something fairly similar. Today, in 1998, the situation is different. Whilst there is no lack of journalistic interest, there have appeared in addition a spate of publications covering diverse aspects of Alevi society, their history, relations with the state, ceremonies and doctrines. These are not just articles but major publications, going through many editions. Unlike the previous accounts, many of them are written by the Alevi themselves.
