The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Turkey
Edited by Pierre Hecker, Ivo Furman, Kaya Akyıldız
- Provides an overview of the politics of culture in Turkey under the rule of the AKP
- Analyses the success of authoritarian populism and the decline of democracy in Turkey from a cultural studies perspective
- Brings together 16 empirical studies that explore cultural aspects from heavy metal music to arthouse films, and from headscarf politics to national memory
Since coming to power, President Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have focused on narrating their vision of a ‘New Turkey’ – an ideal that has resulted in the politicisation of popular culture and people’s everyday lives. Exposing the strategy of Turkey’s ruling elite to obtain cultural hegemony, this book examines the AKP’s efforts to rewrite Turkish public memory by promoting its ideas through TV series, movies, propaganda videos, school curricula and material culture in urban public spaces. It also explores the tactics of cultural resistance developed by the politically weak to counter the ruling elite’s dominant culture of pious conservatism.
ForewordMartin Stokes, King’s College London
1. The Politics of Culture in ‘New Turkey’Pierre Hecker, Ivo Furman, Kaya Akyıldız
Part I: Subcultures and the Politics of Lifestyles
2. Battling Over the Spirit of a Nation: Attitudes Towards Alcohol in ‘New Turkey’Ivo Furman, Istanbul Bilgi University
3. Spreading VX-Gas over Kaaba: Islamic Semiotics in Turkish Black MetalDouglas Mattsson, Södertörn University Stockholm
4. Tired of Religion: Atheism and Non-Belief in ‘New Turkey’Pierre Hecker, Philipps University Marburg
Part II: Satire and Agitprop in ‘New Turkey’
5. Democra-Z: Election Ads, a Failed Coup and Zombie Politics in ‘New Turkey’Josh Carney, American University of Beirut
6. United against the Referee: Competitive Authoritarianism, Soccer and the Remaking of Nationalism in Erdoğanist TurkeyCan Evren, Duke University
7. Between Resistance and Surrender: Counter-hegemonic Discourses in Turkish Satirical MagazinesValentina Marcella, University of Naples
Part III: Civil Society and the Politics of Gender
8. The Boundaries of Womanhood in ‘New Turkey’: The Case of KADEMGülşen Çakıl-Dinçer, Adıyaman University
9. Never Walk Alone: The Politics of Unveiling in ‘New Turkey’Ayşe Çavdar, Philipps University Marburg
10. Welcome to Dystopia. A View into the Counter-hegemonic Discourse(s) of Ecological Activism in IstanbulJulia Lazarus, Berlin
PART IV: Mediating Neo-Ottomanism in Popular Culture
11. New Histories for a New Turkey: The First Battle of Kut (1916) and the Reshaping of the Ottoman PastBurak Onaran, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar University
12. Between Invention and Authenticity: Representations of Abdülhamid II in the TV Series ‘Payitaht’Caner Tekin, Ruhr University Bochum
13. Writing a Visual History of Turkey: ‘Glorious History’ in Mainstream Cinema vs ‘Complicated History’ in Arthouse FilmsDiliara Brileva A. Krymsky, Institute of Oriental Studies, Ukraine
14. The Politics of Nostalgia: The New Urban Culture in Ankara’s Historic NeighbourhoodsPetek Onur, University of Copenhagen
PART V: ‘New Turkey’s’ Ethno-Religious Others
15. The Affirmation of Sunni Supremacism in Erdoğan’s ‘New Turkey’Kaya Akyıldız, Istanbul Bahçeşehir University
16. ‘Because They Would Misunderstand’: Romeyka Heritage and the Masculine Reconfigurations of Public Culture in Contemporary TurkeyErol Sağlam, Istanbul Medeniyet University
17. A Politics of Presence: Public Performances of Roma Belonging in IstanbulDanielle V. Schoon, Ohio State University
Notes on ContributorsIndex
A wonderfully wide-ranging collection of essays, critical and yet hopeful, presenting a compelling cultural map of the ‘New Turkey’ and in so doing making a significant contribution to the globalisation of Turkish cultural studies.
The editors are to be congratulated for putting together such a valuable volume, which indeed moves the reader on from seeing ‘fragments’ of culture to the perception of that culture’s ‘fault lines’.
