DOCSLIB.ORG

Strategic Depth Through Soft Power: the Domestic Production and International Projection of Turkish Culture

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Strategic Depth Through Soft Power: the Domestic Production and International Projection of Turkish Culture 10 / 2013 Strategic Depth through Soft Power: The Domestic Production and International Projection of Turkish Culture Guest Editor: Mathieu Rousselin (Duisburg) Turkish Soap Oper Aşk-ı Memnu (“Forbidden Love”) was aired between 2008 and 2010 and is one of the most popular Turkish television series in the Middle-East and in the Balkans Source: http://www.askimemnu.tv Online Journal of the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe University of St. Gallen www.gce.unisg.ch, www.euxeinos.ch ISSN 2296-0708 Managing Editor Maria Tagangaeva Center for Governance and Last Update May 27, 2013 LAndis & GYR Culture in Europe stiFtung University of St.Gallen Contents Strategic Depth through Soft Power: The Domestic Production and International Projection of Turkish Culture Editorial 3 Special note: Photography Exhibition „Catching the Europe in Istanbul“ 6 Soft Power in Turkish Foreign Policy: New Instruments and Challenges by Selcen Öner, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul 7 Turkish Soap Power: International Perspectives and Domestic Paradoxes by Mathieu Rousselin, Centre for Global Cooperation Research, University of Duisburg-Essen 16 Are New Sufis “Grey Turks”? by Marta Dominguez Diaz, University of St.Gallen 23 Istanbul: How Turkey’s Cultural Capital Has Shaped Its Foreign Policy by Jennifer Brindisi, Istanbul/London 30 Euxeinos 10 (2013) 2 Strategic Depth through Soft Power: The Domestic Production and International Projection of Turkish Culture uring the Opening March of the World Turkish/Oriental match of the white-skinned, DSocial Forum held in Tunis from March fair-haired and blue-eyed Daniel Craig in 26th to 30th 2013, thousands of participants James Bond or of Jack Bauer in the television walked up the Mohamed V avenue, one of Tu- series 24. Equally remarkable to a western au- nis’ forefront boulevards hosting a large num- dience, the Valley of the Wolves franchise heav- ber of government buildings and headquarters ily draws on anti-Americanism and anti-Sem- of large international companies. In doing so, itism for the portrayal of the villains. In Valley Editorial they passed by two symbols of the Turkish of the Wolves: Iraq (2006), American soldiers presence in Tunisia: the Bosphore Académie, a are the bad guys, using Iraqi children as hu- private language school also acting as a Turk- man shields, blindly killing innocent guests at ish cultural centre and a number of bus stops a wedding ceremony and abusing detainees in covered with large-scale advertisements for sequences which are obvious references to re- the Turkish television series Magnificent Centu- al-life events such as the wedding-party mas- ry. If needed, these are welcome signs that the sacre in Mukaradeeb and the Abu-Ghraib tor- work undertaken in this issue is both timely ture scandal. The movie also showed a Jewish and important. doctor removing organs from injured civilians Indeed, Turkey is increasingly seen, if not so as to sell them to rich American and Jewish as a full-fledged counter-model, at least as pro- patients in the West awaiting transplantation. ducing and promoting cultural goods which Although the movie earned much criticism in openly challenge Hollywood codes. And these the US and in Europe, it was a good export productions are often exported internation- product throughout the Arab world. ally (sometimes with the active support of Such trivial examples are not isolated. the Turkish government) and are particularly Alone, they would be mere anecdotes, but tak- heartily welcomed in the Balkans, in the Black en together, they point to a growing trend as Sea region and in the Arab world, thereby well as to a characteristic feature of the Turk- positively contributing to the international im- ish foreign policy, in particular under the AKP age of Turkey as well as generating income for government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip the Turkish economy. One such example is the Erdoğan – namely the deliberate effort to pro- success of the Valley of the Wolves. Three movies mote Turkish culture abroad, and particularly were adapted from the television series, two of in the Arab world and in neighbouring coun- which openly deal with sensitive international tries of the Black Sea region, in order to gain issues (the Iraq war and the Gaza flotilla af- a series of political, diplomatic and commer- fair). These movies are noteworthy because cial advantages. The conceptual cornerstone they offer beautiful cases of mirrored depiction of this policy is Ahmet Davutoglu’s Strategic of heroism to a western audience. Indeed, Val- Depth, which contends that Turkish history ley of the Wolves does not break with the codes (Ottoman legacy) and geography (size and of modern chivalry or with the grotesquely ex- strategic location) provide the country with aggerated portrayal of good and evil. Instead, a significant soft power potential, which the these codes are merely reversed. Hence, the country ought to activate and use to its benefit undercover agent protecting the weak, de- by actively promoting its culture worldwide. fending helpless children and saving villages is played by Necati Şaşmaz, who is a kind of Euxeinos 10 (2013) 3 Thematic scope of the issue discrepancies between the international image of Turkey and the domestic societal realities of In this context, this issue addresses the contemporary Turkey. question of Turkish soft power with a double emphasis on Turkish structures/institutions Individual contributions as well as on concrete empirical case studies. Stated otherwise, the purpose of this issue is The first paper “Soft Power in Turkish not to offer another theoretical contribution to Foreign Policy: New Instruments and Chal- the ongoing academic debate on soft power lenges” by Selcen Öner serves as a framing pa- – an issue which is better left to specialised per for the entire issue. It briefly highlights the scientific reviews. Another important caveat understanding of soft power within Turkish is the focus that the review Euxeinos oper- academia and goes on to introduce Strategic ates on governance and culture. This means Depth as the conceptual basis underpinning that a series of important economic, trade or Turkish foreign policy. It then reviews the in- financial issues which undeniably contribute stitutions and foreign policy instruments at to strengthen the power of attraction of Tur- the disposal of the Turkish state when trying to key will not be dealt with here. The interested promote its culture worldwide. It points to the reader may refer to scientific journals such proliferation of various cultural institutions as Turkish Studies, the International Review of which, as is the case for the Turkish Cultural Turkish Studies, the European Journal of Turkish Centres and the Yunus Emre Institutes, are de Studies or New perspectives on Turkey which facto placed in a situation of competition one have regularly addressed these issues at great with another. Another perhaps unexpected re- length. sult for the Western reader is the trade-off that The aim and added-value of this issue is some members of Turkish academia seem to therefore twofold. First, it aims at showing see between hard and soft power. how Turkish scholars understand and apply The second paper ”Turkish Soap Power: soft power and how the Turkish state has de- International perspectives and domestic para- veloped specific foreign policy instruments doxes” by myself is the first case study of the dedicated to the promotion of Turkey’s soft special issue and focuses on the domestic and power. Second, these strategies of soft power international success of Turkish television se- are illustrated by means of three case studies ries. These series often address pressing soci- dedicated to domestic and international suc- etal issues such as sexual emancipation, wom- cess of Turkish soap operas, to the spread of en rights, drug or alcohol consumption and Sufism in segments of the Turkish society and abortion which could be deemed offensive to the bids of Turkey’s capital city Istanbul by an Islamic audience. Yet, the manner with to host a series of international events. These which these issues are dealt with seems to case studies highlight the way in which cul- resonate across the Black Sea and Arab world, tural contents or messages are promoted and leading for instance to a situation in which the received internationally. They also point to last episode of the Turkish soap Gümüş / Noor subtle and interesting evolutions in the kind was viewed by 85 million people worldwide, of image Turkey wants to convey of itself. Fi- including half the total number of adult wom- nally, the same case studies identify certain en in the Arab world. Paradoxically enough, Euxeinos 10 (2013) 4 the freedom of tone of Turkish producers has tempt to break the deadlock on EU accession been harshly criticised within Turkey by se- negotiations. A few years ahead and with ac- nior AKP politicians as well as by regulatory cession talks virtually frozen, the bid for the authorities such as the RTÜK. 2020 Summer Olympics is based on a different The third paper “Are New Sufis “Grey narrative, that of the “global vision”, whereby Turks”? Urbanite National Identities and Re- Istanbul has become the avant-garde of all ligious reconfigurations” by Marta Domin- Muslim nations and a city “looking at 360 de- guez Diaz addresses the recent revival of Sufi grees”, rather than a microcosm of religious thought in traditionally secular urban classes diversity with its eyes riveted on Europe. of Turkey. She argues that this movement ought to be understood as an attempt to break Mathieu Rousselin (Duisburg) with the old anti-religious discourse of “White Turks” while simultaneously keeping away from the traditional and rigorous religious About the Editor: practices of “Black Turks”. Stated otherwise, this movement does not imply a rejection of Mathieu Rousselin is a postdoctoral fellow at western modernity, which the so-called “Grey the centre for Global Cooperation Research Turks” still embraced for intellectual stimu- of the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Transnationalization of Turkish Television Series
    TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES EDITORS Özlem ARDA, Pınar ASLAN, Constanza MUJICA TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES EDITORS Özlem ARDA Assoc. Prof. Dr., Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, Radio, Television and Cinema Department, Istanbul, Turkey Pınar ASLAN Assoc. Prof. Dr., Üsküdar University, Faculty of Communication, Public Relations and Publicity, Istanbul, Turkey Constanza MUJICA Assoc. Prof. Dr., Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Facultad de Comunicaciones, Santiago, Chile Published by Istanbul University Press Istanbul University Central Campus IUPress Office, 34452 Beyazıt/Fatih Istanbul - Turkey https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr Book Title: Transnationalization of Turkish Television Series Editors: Özlem Arda, Pınar Aslan, Constanza Mujica E-ISBN: 978-605-07-0756-4 DOI: 10.26650/B/SS18.2021.004 Istanbul University Publication No: 5277 Published Online in July, 2021 It is recommended that a reference to the DOI is included when citing this work. This work is published online under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This work is copyrighted. Except for the Creative Commons version published online, the legal exceptions and the terms of the applicable license agreements shall be taken into account. iv EDITORS Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem ARDA Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, Radio, Television and Cinema Department, Istanbul, Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar ASLAN Üsküdar University, Faculty of Communication, Public Relations and Publicity, Istanbul, Turkey Assoc. Prof. Dr. Constanza MUJICA Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Facultad de Comunicaciones, Santiago, Chile ADVISORY BOARD Prof. Dr. Ergün YOLCU Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, Istanbul, Turkey Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • THE CASE of TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES FATMAGÜL'ün SUÇU NE? a Master's Thesis by YASEMIN YENER
    RAPE DISCOURSES IN TURKEY: THE CASE OF TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES FATMAGÜL’ÜN SUÇU NE? A Master’s Thesis By YASEMIN YENER Department of Communication and Design İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara January 2013 To my family… RAPE DISCOURSES IN TURKEY: THE CASE OF TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES FATMAGÜL’ÜN SUÇU NE? Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by YASEMIN YENER In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND DESIGN IHSAN DOĞRAMACI BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA January 2013 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Design. Assist. Prof. Ahmet Gürata Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Design. Assist. Prof. Dr. Ersan Ocak Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Design. Assist. Prof. Dr. Dilek Kaya Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT RAPE DISCOURSES IN TURKEY: THE CASE OF TURKISH TELEVISION SERIES FATMAGÜL’ÜN SUÇU NE? Yener, Yasemin M.A., Department of Communication and Design Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gürata January, 2013 The television series Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?, which first aired in September 2010, turned in to a phenomenon.
    [Show full text]
  • 142 CELEBRITY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOLS Ömer Vatanartıran * Özet Abstract
    Ömer Vatanartıran CELEBRITY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOLS Ömer Vatanartıran * Özet Bir ülkeden diğerine resmi ziyaretler, yerleşik temsilcilikler ya da üst düzey devlet görevlileri- nin görüşmeleri gibi daha kapalı, önceden çizilmiş üslupların ve iletişim yollarının titizlikle takip edildiği geleneksel diplomasinin karşılıklı iletişime, etkileşime ve ortak değer üretimine dayalı daha açık, esnek ve ulaşılabilir kamu diplomasisine evriminde, kitle iletişim teknolojilerinin rolü kaçınılmazdır. Özellikle dijital medya, diplomasinin sadece resmi aktörlerinin çevrimiçi temsilini ve daha kolay temasını mümkün kılmakla kalmamış, aynı zamanda toplumların her kesim ve düzeyinden yurttaşa etkileşim imkanı tanımış- tır. Kendiliğinden bir kültürel diplomasi başarı hikayesine dönüşen Türk dizilerinin artık dünyaca tanınan oyuncuları da, sosyal medyada dünyanın dört bir yanından takipçileriyle etkileşim halindedir. Bu olgunun, Türkiye’nin yabancı kamuoyu ile temasında dijital diplomasi aracı olarak nasıl bir potansiyel taşıdığını anlamak için yabancı ülkelerde yayına giren “Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?” dizisinin başrol oyuncusu Beren Saat’in Instagram hesabı incelenmiştir. Bu içerik analizi, uluslararası ölçekte tanınan dizi yüzlerinin dijital hesaplarının global bir mikro kamusal alan niteliği taşıdığını ve daha etkili dijital diplomasi iletişim strate- jisi için verimli bir kaynak oluşturduğunu göstermiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: Dijital diplomasi, kamusal alan, uluslararası şöhret, kamu diplomasisi, stratejik ileti- şim, Türk TV dizileri Abstract The evolution of traditional diplomacy carried out during the formal visits or summits of perma- nent representative agencies or high level protocols in a relatively closed, neatly planned, and procedural environments to a more open, flexible, and accessible way of a public diplomacy, which is based on mu- tual communication, interaction, and creation of a common value would not have been possible without the transformation of communication technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • Love Turkish Series
    Love turkish series Continue In the last few years, the international audience of Turkish TV series has grown rapidly in both the east and west. Turkish TV series, called Dezi, have a huge audience in the United States, Balkan countries, the Middle East, China, Russia, Korea, Latin America, South Africa and Asia. Several Turkish SERIES on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other channels are available with English dubbing. But hardcore fans love watching them with English subtitles. In this article DigitalCruch is going to share with you the recent and highly rated Turkish drama. Here we go: Saint Hall Capimi - You knock on my door genre: Romance, Adventures, Fun Starring: Khande Erel, Kerem Bersin, Lylihan Yeldan, Bige An, Evrim Dogan and Ismail Ege Sasmaz Original release: July 2020 - Saint-Paul Capimi is another new romantic Turkish drama series, which starred beautiful and beloved actresses Gende Erel with Kerem Bersin. As fans always love to watch the romantic drama Hande Ercel, so Saint-Sale Capimi is also considered another big hit. If we talk about the plot of Sen. Zala Kapimi, it is also very dramatic, when Eda's girlfriend is passionate about her education and career, but for some reason can not go to study abroad. Serkan then enters her life and invites her to marry him within two months. In two months, he will arrange for her everything to study abroad. Kerem Bursin plays serkan and Ed plays Gende Erel. Hope you will love watching this romantic Turkish series. Emanet - Legacy of the genre: Romance, Drama, Emotional Starring: Khalil Ibrahim Ceyhan, Sala Turkoglu, Berat Rozgar Ozkan, Melih Ozkaya, Gulderen Guler and Gulei Ozdem Original release: March 2020 - Emanet is another Turkish drama series Kanal 7, which they started after a huge success.
    [Show full text]
  • Romanticizing Rape in the Turkish TV Series: Fatmagul'un Suçu Ne? and the Female Moroccan Fans
    Journal of Applied Language and Culture Studies, Issue 2, 2019, pp. 175-192 Romanticizing Rape in the Turkish TV Series: Fatmagul’un Suçu Ne? and the Female Moroccan Fans Ouidyane EL Ouardaoui Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco To cite this article: EL Ouardaoui, O. (2019). Romanticizing rape in the Turkish TV series: Fatmagul’un Suçu Ne? and the female Moroccan fans. Journal of Applied Language and Culture Studies, 2, 175-192. Abstract Turkish TV series first appeared on Arab television in the period of 2007-2008. Ihlamurlar Altinda[Under the Linden Trees] (Kanal D, 2005) and Gumus [Silver] (Kanal D, 2005) were the first Turkish series that aired on Arab TV. They were translated from Turkish to Arabic as Sanawat Aldaya’a [The Lost Years] and Noor, and were shown on MBC (the Middle-East Broadcasting Channel) from 2007-2009. Fatmagul’un Suçu Ne? [What is Fatmagul’s Fault?] (Kanal D, 2010), known in the Arab world simply by the title of Fatma aired on MBC in 2013, after being dubbed in Syrian Arabic. Fatmagul’un Suçu Ne? traces the psychological and social sufferings of a simple village girl who was sexually assaulted by four men, a few days before her wedding’s date. Fatma’s story undergoes a drastic change when she voluntarily accepts to marry one of the rapists, Kerim, though the viewers find out later that he did not touch Fatma but did nothing to save her, too. In this paper, I discuss through close textual analysis how the television drama Fatmagul does not only contribute in normalizing rape, but also exploits the commonplace melodramatic ingredients in fiction that are characterized by excess such as the loss of consciousness, eavesdropped 175 conversations, last-minute rescues and unpredictable love stories (Brooks, 1995) in order to romanticize the most aggressive sexual aggression against women.
    [Show full text]
  • AĞA KAPISI KENTSEL DÖNÜŞÜM GÜNLERİNDE BALAT Kadir Has Üniversitesi Yaşam Boyu Eğitim Merkezi Mart - Haziran 2012 Programı
    Kadir Has Üniversitesi Öğrenci Konseyi Süreli Yayını - Mayıs 2012 Sayı:3 KALKINAN BİR ÜLKENİN UÇAKMACERASI MİLLİ GÜREŞÇİMİZ KANSU İLDEM YÜZÜNCÜ KADINLARIN İSYANI YılıNda TACI DA BİLİRİZ BALKAN OFSAYTI DA! FELAKETİ ŞEHİR VE KÜTÜPHANELER BİR İSTANBUL MASALI OLARAK AĞA KAPISI KENTSEL DÖNÜŞÜM GÜNLERİNDE BALAT Kadir Has Üniversitesi Yaşam Boyu Eğitim Merkezi Mart - Haziran 2012 Programı Sosyal Medya Uzmanlığı Sertifika Programı, 07 Nisan – 23 Haziran 2012, Cumartesi günleri, Kadir Has Üniversitesi Öğrencilerine 1920 TL + KDV Film Çekiyoruz ”Cibali Tütün Fabrikası”, 14 Nisan – 03 Haziran 2012, Cumartesi ve Pazar günleri, Kadir Has Üniversitesi Öğrencilerine 600 TL + KDV Kullanılabilirlik ve Kullanıcı Deneyimi Sertifika Programı, 28 Nisan – 02 Haziran 2012, Cumartesi günleri Kadir Has Üniversitesi Öğrencilerine 700 TL + KDV DJ Sertifika Programı, Pazartesi ve Salı Günleri, Kadir Has Üniversitesi Öğrencilerine 1.120 TL + KDV Detaylı Bilgi İçin: http://khas-yasam.khas.edu.trwww.khas.edu.tr Tel: 0212 533 65 32 / 1218 Kadir Has Üniversitesi Adına Sahibi ve Genel Yayın Yönetmeni Ayten Görgün Smith Sorumlu Yazı İşleri Müdürü Mehmet Fatih Acemoğlu Editör Kasım Koç Haber Merkezi Nagehan Ayşe Sarı Gülçehre Kılıç Merve Özkan Esra Kantarcı Saliha Yiğit Erkan Alan Tasarım Değerli okurlar, sevgili arkadaşlarım; Kasım Koç Kadir Has Üniversitesi öğrencileri olarak kendi emek ve ça- Seda Yumuş balarımızla hazırladığımız “BizeHas” dergisinin üçüncü sayısının Katkıda Bulunanlar mutluluğu ve gururunu sizlerle paylaşmak istiyorum. Ercan Erdal Kadir Has Üniversitesi
    [Show full text]
  • WHAT DO AUDIENCES THINK ABOUT LITERARY ADAPTATIONS: a RECEPTION STUDY on TURKISH TV SERIES and FIDELITY a Master's Thesis By
    WHAT DO AUDIENCES THINK ABOUT LITERARY ADAPTATIONS: A RECEPTION STUDY ON TURKISH TV SERIES AND FIDELITY A Master’s Thesis by AYGEN ECEVİT Department of Communication and Design İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara January 2017 To Soner Cengizoğlu… WHAT DO AUDIENCES THINK ABOUT LITERARY ADAPTATIONS: A RECEPTION STUDY ON TURKISH TV SERIES AND FIDELITY Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by AYGEN ECEVİT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND DESIGN İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA January 2017 ABSTRACT WHAT DO AUDIENCES THINK ABOUT LITERARY ADAPTATIONS: A RECEPTION STUDY ON TURKISH TV SERIES AND FIDELITY Ecevit, Aygen MA, Department of Communication and Design Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Colleen Bevin Kennedy Karpat January 2017 Fidelity discussion has a long history in adaptation studies and despite all negative criticism towards fidelity concern, the discussion about fidelity still remains. This thesis, with its audience based perspective, aims to contribute to this discussion by exploring the spectators’ perception about fidelity with a discourse analysis in respect of two main questions: Do audiences care about fidelity? If so, what does fidelity mean according to them? To investigate these issues, two Turkish TV series, Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love) and Behzat Ç. Bir Ankara Polisiyesi (Behzat Ç. An Ankara Detective Story) are selected as case studies and discourse analysis, as a method, is used. In order to gather information about their reception, analyzing Ekşi Sözlük (Sour Dictionary) entries about these two series’ is used as the methodology. Susers’, who are also readers and spectators, entries who mentioned their idea about fidelity and adaptation are collected and they compared between these cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkish Soap Opera Diplomacy 78
    Çevik: Turkish Soap Opera Diplomacy 78 Turkish Soap Opera Diplomacy: A Western Projection by a Muslim Source1 B. Senem Çevik Ankara University Abstract The rise of Turkish soap operas as a phenomenon, particularly in the Middle East, is a fairly new development. These soap operas have become non-governmental public diplomacy tools representing Turkey globally. The shows predominantly project a Western and modern lifestyle addressing everyday hurdles. More importantly, the female protagonists are central to the storylines. This paper examines the role of soap operas as a cultural diplomacy tool within the context of identity and the social implications that are prompted by these media exports. Key words Cultural diplomacy, soap operas, identity, identification, women, Turkey. Biography B. Senem Çevik holds a B.A and M.B.A from California State University, San Bernardino, and a PhD in political communication from Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Cevik is an associate member of International Dialogue Initiative (IDI). She was a visiting researcher at University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication Center for Public Diplomacy during the summer of 2013 and a Summer Institute participant. Her public diplomacy research interests are in identity, cultural, aid diplomacy, branding approaches focusing on Turkish public diplomacy through media exports, humanitarian relief and diaspora diplomacy. Cevik has been focusing on soap opera diplomacy for the last two years. She is currently working as an assistant professor at Ankara University Center for the Study and Research of Political Psychology. 1 This paper is supported in part by TUBITAK BIDEB 2219 post-doctoral research grant on the Publishedauthor‘s by SURFACE, work 2014 in public diplomacy.
    [Show full text]
  • Women and Tradition in Turkish Television Culture the Modern Day Representations of Rape and Pre-Marital Sexuality
    Women and Tradition in Turkish Television Culture The Modern day representations of Rape and Pre-marital sexuality Master’s Thesis submitted to the department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, May 2013, for obtaining the Master’s Degree of Social Sciences in the field of Media and Communication Studies. Candidate: Melek Merve Mutlu Supervisor: Christian Christensen Acknowledgements I would firstly like to acknowledge my family if they hadn’t supported me through my struggles while writing this thesis I would not be able to make it through the writing process. Secondly I would like to thank, my dear classmates and friends in Uppsala who have been very supportive during my two years here in Sweden.Thank you Stéphanie Ratti, Charlemkwan Jiramonai and Milda Lokaityte. I would also like to thank my neighbours, friends, Melisa Elif Akgüder and Can Anıl for being so helpful and Kind and my housemates and family Maud and Mehmet Akgüder for opening their home to me. I would like to especially thank my professors at Uppsala University for making my master’s studies a great experience. I would also like to thank the authors that have made a contribution in writing this thesis. ii Abstract In this thesis, Women and Tradition in Turkish Television culture-The modern day representation of rape and pre-marital sexuality looks into how rape and pre-marital sexuality is represented under traditional gender roles. This is a cultural study that tries to understand the sexual identity of women trying to be represented on television series in Turkey. Two television serials “Fatmagülün Suçu Ne?” and “Hayat Devam Ediyor” are selected as case studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Use of the Movies in the Turkish Language and Literature Education in Turkey
    Journal of Education and Learning; Vol. 7, No. 3; 2018 ISSN 1927-5250 E-ISSN 1927-5269 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Use of the Movies in the Turkish Language and Literature Education in Turkey Halide Gamze İnce Yakar1 1 Turkish Language Department, Okan University, Istanbul, Turkey Correspondence: Halide Gamze İnce Yakar, Turkish Language Department, Okan University, Tuzla Campus, Akfırat-Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey. Received: January 12, 2018 Accepted: January 28, 2018 Online Published: February 11, 2018 doi:10.5539/jel.v7n3p41 URL: http://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v7n3p41 Abstract The aim of the present research is to investigate the teachers’ use of movies in their classes for the teaching of literature and their opinions on this technique. The research is designed as a case study. The target group of the research, selected on information-oriented sampling, consists of 44 Turkish Language and Literature teachers who graduated from 27 different Turkish universities and work in education centers, state and foundation schools and enrolled in Okan University pedagogical formation program. The responses given to the open-ended questionnaire items prepared by the researcher are interpreted qualitatively by means of content analysis. The data obtained from the research are interpreted under the categories of (1) the movies used in the classroom, (2) the purpose for which the movie is used in the classroom, (3) the selection of movies according to literary genres, (4) benefits of the educational movies for research group, (5) limitations of the educational movies for research group. Depending on the research results, some recommendations are made for the use of movies in the classroom.
    [Show full text]
  • Aysın Ece Acar Individual to Societal Figures Construction of Celebrity
    INDIVIDUAL TO SOCIETAL FIGURES: CONSTRUCTION OF CELEBRITY IDENTITY IN TURKISH MEDIA CONSTRUCTION OF CELEBRITY IDENTITY IN A Master’s Thesis INDIVIDUAL TO SOCIETAL FIGURES: SOCIETAL TO INDIVIDUAL by AYSIN ECE ACAR TURKISH MEDIA Department of Communication and Design Bilkent University 2020 İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara August 2020 To mom… INDIVIDUAL TO SOCIETAL FIGURES: CONSTRUCTION OF CELEBRITY IDENTITY IN TURKISH MEDIA The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İoğı AYSIN ECE ACAR In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements fof the Degree of MASTER OFARTS IN MEDIA AND VISUAL STUDIES THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND DESIGN İİ ANKARA August 2020 ABSTRACT INDIVIDUAL TO SOCIETAL FIGURES: CONSTRUCTION OF CELEBRITY IDENTITY IN TURKEY Acar, Aysın Ece M.A., in Media and Visual Studies Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Colleen Bevin Kennedy-Karpat August 2020 Celebrated individuals are everywhere in the consumerist societies in which technology is developing rapidly, and their impact as social phenomenona on the societies, media, and consuming habits is significant. Although celebrities as individuals and celebrity culture have been the topic of media and cultural studies since the late 90s and there is a rich and growing body of literature in the field, there is almost no previous study tackling the issue in Turkey. This thesis investigates the notion of celebrity in Turkey and how the celebrity system functions, by examining three strong cases: Seda Sayan, Cem Yılmaz, and Acun Ilıcalı, and their individual identity construction processes. By adopting foundational theories with respect to the cultural specificities and differences, and examining the recurring patterns in three different cases, it aims to reveal how Turkish media situates celebrities within the broader framework of culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkish Soap Power: International Perspectives and Domestic Paradoxes
    Turkish Soap Power: International Perspectives and Domestic Paradoxes by Mathieu Rousselin, University of St.Gallen etween 2005 and 2007, the Turkish melo- prompting the producers to convert the fic- Bdrama Gümüş (“Silver”) was aired on tional home of the two lovers into a successful Kanal D. A typical TV soap opera in many re- museum which registered more than 70’000 gards, Gümüş essentially features a love story entries in 2008 just for Saudi visitors (Tristam, between the pretty dark-haired (and naturally 2009). large-bosomed) Noor, played by Songül Öden, After the success of Gümüş / Noor, Turk- and her equally attractive blue-eyed and fair- ish soap operas swept across the Middle East, haired husband Mohannad (played by Kıvanç bringing revenues to the booming Turkish TV Tatlıtuğ). A perfect husband, Mohannad treats industry1 and starting off the first reflections his wife kindly and as his equal – he even sup- on the contribution of the television dramas to ports her actively in her professional career Turkey’s soft power in the region (Matthews, as a fashion designer. The plot nonetheless 2011; Utkan, 2011). Indeed, soap operas not introduced very unconventional elements to only give precious insights into domestic Turk- an Islamic audience, such as premarital sex, ish politics (Hintz, 2012) but they also tackle repeated use of alcohol or abortion. Actresses deep philosophical, political and religious is- do not wear any veil and kisses are often ex- sues which are currently debated throughout changed on screen. the Middle East (Rohde, 2012a). This contrib- Given the enthusiastic reception of the utes to the success of these television dramas series by the Turkish audience, a handful of abroad and particularly in the Arab world, producers working for the Saudi-owned and transforming the Turkish television industry Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Center into a powerful soft power instrument.
    [Show full text]