THE TURKISH SATIRIC COMEDIES IN THE 1980s A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY DEN İZ TÜRKER IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES GRADUATE PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 2006 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ________________________ Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ Prof. Dr. Ra şit Kaya Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. _______________________ Assist. Prof. Dr. Necmi Erdo ğan Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Necmi Erdo ğan (METU, ADM) _________________ Dr. Barı ş Çakmur (METU, ADM) ________________ Dr. Levent Cantek (GAZI Un., COM) _________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Deniz Türker Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE TURKISH SATIRIC COMEDIES IN THE 1980s Türker, Deniz M.S., Media and Cultural Studies Graduate Program Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Necmi Erdo ğan September 2006, 123 pages This thesis is an attempt to analyse the narrative structure of the Turkish satiric comedies that were produced in the 1980s. It focuses on the relation between the narrative structure of the satiric comedies and the socio-political atmosphere of the period. It argues that the satiric comedies aimed to criticize the new right policies and the social transformation in the 1980s through the opposition between the “honourable” hero on the one hand, and the “swindler” figure(s) or the “degenerated order” on the other. The narrative tools and stereotypes were used to represent the decline of such social values as solidarity, collectivism and philanthropy and rise of new ones like individualism, competitiveness and self-reliance. The study also analyzes the transformation of satiric comedies themselves throughout the decade, focusing on the change in the construction of oppositions and conflicts, and the emergence of nostalgia and romanticism as part of their critical discourse. Keywords: satiric comedies, humour, new right, the honourable, the swindler, the degenerated order, nostalgia. iv ÖZ 1980’LER TÜRK S İNEMASINDA H İCİV Türker, Deniz Yüksek Lisans, Medya ve Kültürel Çalı şmalar Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Necmi Erdo ğan Eylül 2006, 123 sayfa Bu çalı şma 1980’ler Türk sinemasında hiciv tarzında çekilen komedi filmlerinin anlatı yapısını incelemeye yöneliktir. Burada, hiciv tarzındaki komedilerin anlatı yapısıyla dönemin toplumsal ve siyasi atmosferi arasındaki ili şkiye odaklanılmı ştır. Çalı şmanın iddiası hiciv tarzındaki komedilerin 1980’lerdeki yeni sağ politikalarını ve toplumsal dönü şümü, bir yanda “namuslu” kahraman di ğer yanda ise “namussuz” figür(ler) ya da “bozuk düzen” arasında kurdu ğu kar şıtlıklar yoluyla ele ştirmeyi amaçladı ğıdır. Anlatısal araçlar ve basmakalıp tiplemeler dayanışmacılık, kolektivizm ve yardımla şma gibi toplumsal de ğerlerin yok olu şunu ve bireycilik, rekabetçilik gibi yeni de ğerlerin yükseli şini temsil eder. Bu çalı şma ayrıca, kar şıtlıkların ve çeli şkilerin kurulu şundaki de ğişime odaklanarak hiciv tarzındaki komedilerin 1980’ler boyunca kendi içlerinde ya şadı ğı dönü şümü ve ele ştirel söylemlerinin bir parçası olarak ortaya çıkan nostalji ve romantizmi inceler. Anahtar kelimeler: hiciv, komedi, yeni sa ğ, namuslu, namussuz, bozuk düzen, nostalji. v …to love of my life, Burak Özçetin vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am sincerely grateful to my advisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Necmi Erdo ğan not only for his patience and inspiring criticisms, but also for his mental guidance throughout my whole academic studies. I also would like to express my gratitude to the examining committee members Instructor Dr. Barı ş Çakmur and Dr. Levent Cantek for their enriching contributions. And to Ra şit Kaya, for his sincere criticisms, contributions and support during the thesis work. My family was of great support throughout this study. I owe a lot to my mother Hülya Türker and my father Engin Türker for their endless support and love. Without them, I would easily lose my courage and self-confidence. And I want to thank from the deepest of my heart to my lovely brother Arda Türker. Without our childhood memories of watching Ye şilçam movies and having hours of chat I would have never been inspired to study Turkish cinema. I offer sincere thanks to my dear colleague Neslihan Akpınar, for her willingness to help me and emotional support. Thanks also go to Dilay Düngül, Ömür Düngül, Okan Yıldırım and Şebnem Cirit for being part of my life and offering their priceless friendship. And to dearest Demet Yıldırım, I owe her a lot since without her presence in my life; the world would not seem that much lovely and worth living for. Her mental and emotional support and patience during the depressions I have suffered made it easier for me to bear the difficulties I have faced during the thesis work. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and love for my dearest and lovely husband Burak Özçetin. His endless patience, love and support vii are the greatest gift and treasure life has offered me. Without his presence and support, this thesis would have never been written. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM.................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................. iv ÖZ.................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1 2. YE Şİ LÇAM COMEDY IN ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT ......................8 2.1 A Brief History of the Ye şilçam Cinema......................................9 2. 1. 1 Turkish Cinema Till the 1960s .........................................9 2. 1. 2 Socio-political Atmosphere between 1960 and 1980.....10 2. 1. 3 Turkish Cinema between 1960 and 1980......................14 2.2 The Place of Comedy in Ye şilçam: An Analysis of the Genre and Its Transformation till the 1980s ........................................23 3. HISTORICIZING THE 1980s: A NEW TURKISH CINEMA ..............36 3. 1 Socio-political Atmosphere of the 1980s ..................................37 3. 2 Cultural Climate of the 1980s ...................................................41 3. 3 Turkish Cinema in the 1980s....................................................48 4. READING THE TURKISH SATIRIC COMEDIES IN THE 1980s......57 4. 1 Oppositions and Conflicts.........................................................58 ix 4. 1. 1 Dichotomy: The “Honourable” versus the “Swindler” .....59 4. 1. 2 Dichotomy: The “Honourable” versus the “Degenerated Order” .....................................................67 4. 1. 3 The “Parody of Degeneration” .......................................72 4. 2 Nostalgia and Romanticism......................................................81 4. 3 Discussion: Continuities and Breaks ........................................99 5. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................107 REFERENCES .........................................................................................112 APPENDICES...........................................................................................118 A. List of the Films ..............................................................................118 x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This thesis analyzes the narrative structure of the Turkish satiric comedies produced in the 1980s. It attempts to reveal their common ideological perspective and to delineate the ways in which comedy as a genre underwent changes in this period. The argument of this study is that the satiric comedies of the 1980s represent a critical perspective towards the transformation of the society in the social, political, economical and cultural spheres. It argues that the satiric films employ a set of common narrative tools to build their perspective. Most significant among them is a set of oppositions between the “honourable” hero on the one hand and the “swindler” figures and “degenerated order” on the other. I argue that these oppositions are new to Turkish comedy cinema and resulted in the production of new stereotypes, not unrelated to the conventional Ye şilçam binary oppositions. A third structure, namely the “parody of degeneration” emerges as another narrative set, in which the story does not include major oppositions among the chief characters. The thesis claims that these narrative tools are used to represent the decline of such social values as solidarity, collectivism and philanthropy and rise of new ones like individualism, competitiveness and self-reliance in the 1980s. These new stereotypes, namely the “honourable” and the “swindler” provide the