Browsing by Subject "Metaphors"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Constructing Turkish “exceptionalism”: Discourses of liminality and hybridity in post-Cold War Turkish foreign policy
(Elsevier, 2011-02) Yanık, L. K.
This article examines the discursive practices that enable the construction of Turkish “exceptionalism.” It argues that in an attempt to play the mediator/peacemaker role as an emerging power, the Turkish elite construct an “exceptionalist” identity that portrays Turkey in a liminal state. This liminality and thus the “exceptionalist” identity it creates, is rooted in the hybridization of Turkey’s geographical and historical characteristics. The Turkish foreign policy elite make every effort to underscore Turkey’s geography as a meeting place of different continents. Historically, there has also been an ongoing campaign to depict Turkey’s past as “multicultural” and multi-civilizational. These constructions of identity however, run counter to the Kemalist nation-building project, which is based on “purity” in contrast to “hybridity” both in terms of historiography and practice.
Open Access
The 'converge' vs, 'fragmentation' dilemma in metaphoric analysis of organizations
(1996) Keskin, Ayşe Müjde
Eight different organizational studies were performed on ANFA, Ankara Fair Limited Company through the lenses of Morgan’s( 1986) metaphors in 1993 before the municipality elections that changed the political party in charge of the municipality. These eight organizational studies were done through eight different metaphors which were introduced in Gareth Morgan’s book, “Images of Organizations”. These were Organizations As ‘Machines’, ‘Organisms’, ‘Brain’, ‘Culture’, ‘Political Systems’, ‘Psychic Prisons’, ‘Flux & Transformation’ and ‘Instruments of Domination’. The metaphoric organizational analysis are considered part of the postmodern approach. According to this approach, the organizational analysis should be able to find the ‘instabilities’ of the ‘formal’ reality of the organization to uncover the ‘difference’ -- multi-dimensions of the organizational reality . The eight metaphoric studies were designed as an experiment. The purpose of this study to test this postmodern proposition of a multifaceted representational reality.
Open Access
Standing under metaphors of power: Ankara city gates
(2019-07) Emiroğlu, Kadir Yavuz
This thesis examines Ankara City Gates in terms of how they metaphorically reproduce a mode of subjecthood, a cultural citizenship corresponding to the understanding of citizenship of the AKP and the state, of which Melih Gökçek, former metropolitan mayor of Ankara is a representative. Doing so, it observes and analyzes these city gates as they function to reproduce the above-mentioned mode of subjecthood, a cultural citizenship whose substance represents an Ottomanist, nationalist, Islamist, neoliberal ideological mélange. The case of Ankara City Gates is analyzed by taking the city gates as textual material, looking at Gökçek’s statements on these structures, considering various instances of public response and comparing this original gate-building practice to various experiences of gate-building in other Anatolian municipalities. Location of the city gates, and how they are placed in relation to the city (e.g. presence of a police control point near the gates) are interpreted to see if they constitute a newer sense of dominion in Ankara. This observation leads this study to observe that Ankara City Gates function to draw new boundaries to Ankara. Religious, national, historical references (e.g. Seljuk Stars, Turkish flags, Mevlana statutes), material qualities (e.g. building materials of these gates) are interpreted with regards to another metaphorical function of these structures: Ideological spolia. It is a practice of selectively attaching elements to represent how the ideology of the AKP imagines, envisions, marks their dominion, the area where the subjectified citizens enter to. These two functions constitute a final one, which enabling the city gates to subjectify citizens of Ankara, rendering them under-standers, citizen subjects who stand under the city gates.
Open Access
Turkish EFL learners’ interpretation of metaphors: A study on conceptual socialization
(2017-11) Kökcü, Şeyma
The aim of this study was to investigate the conceptual socialization of Turkish EFL learners in terms of their interpretation of English metaphors. In this respect, the similarities and differences between native English speakers and Turkish EFL learners in their interpretation of metaphors were analyzed by looking at their performance in three categories of metaphors; a) conceptually and linguistically similar, b) conceptually similar, but linguistically different, and c) conceptually and linguistically different metaphors. The role of two other variables (presenting the situational context and EFL learners' familiarity with the metaphors) on their interpretation of metaphors were also examined. The participants consisted of two groups; 38 Turkish advanced level EFL learners and seven native English speakers. In this mixed-methods study, data were collected through a familiarity scale (FAMscale) and two metaphor tests called sentence level test (SLT) and situation-based test (SBT) including all three categories of metaphors. Data analysis was accomplished by scoring the EFL learners’ responses to metaphor tests according to the baseline of correct response by the native English speakers and analyzing the results according to the research questions. The results of the analyses showed that presenting the metaphors in context did not have a significant role in Turkish EFL learners’ interpretation of metaphors. However, conceptual and linguistic similarities and differences played a significant role in their interpretation. Familiarity with the metaphors did not play a significant role in their interpretation of metaphors as well. Moreover, Turkish EFL learners differed very much from native English speakers regarding correct metaphor interpretation although they are advanced level learners. These findings indicated that Turkish EFL learners’ conceptual socialization into English was not sufficient due to lack of exposure to the English conceptual system and enough interaction with native speakers. Based on the findings mentioned above, this study suggested that, in order to promote conceptual socialization in EFL context, teachers can emphasize cultural differences to raise awareness, and conceptual and linguistic similarities and differences between the L1 and the TL, and they can draw explicit attention to metaphors in class by creating opportunities for the students to practice the language as a good source of the target language conceptual system.