Reproduction of Turkishness on television: an analysis of TRT series

Abstract

This thesis analyses two different TRT series to reveal when and how Turkishness is reproduced on television. These two series are Sevda Kuşun Kanadında and Seksenler. The thesis makes use of an interpretative approach in which the components of themes, music, contexts, characters and narratives are analysed within the social and political context of the post-putsch era in Turkish politics. The analysis demonstrates that Turkishness is reproduced as its banal and hot forms; both separately and conjoined together. In this regard, Turkishness is reproduced through homeland deixis, the dichotomy of us vs. them and references to common history and Ottoman past.