Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Discourse and Identity in Turkish Media, Mustafa, Süheyla Nil; Bostan, Ayşe Dilara, Editör, Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, ss.11-39, 2021
This article analyzes the process involving the spread of a social crisis that broke out in social media platform into traditional mass media and its resolution upon being featured and judged in a celebrity gossip TV show in line with the conceptual framework provided by the prominent anthropologist Victor Turner. For Turner, the crisis situations provide greater insight into the normative structures or hegemonic discourses in society since the norms are being entrenched and become more visible along the lines of defense in times of social crises. Turner defines the processual nature of any social conflict in terms of his concept of social drama. In line with Turner’s argumentation, this paper suggests that the social conflicts represented on the television shows also reveal significant comprehension with respect to the normative discourses of the contemporary Turkish society. In our case, the discussions held on a certain celebrity gossip show will be examined through the Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how the existing hegemonic discourses of femininity and masculinity in contemporary Turkey are reproduced and modified throughout the narratives held in the program. The literature on daytime television talk shows in Turkey mostly argue that the traditional feminine identity in accordance with the hegemonic patriarchal discourse in Turkey is reproduced in these programs. This paper shows that television programs do not just reproduce the existing norms and identities, but traditional discursive codes of Turkish feminine identity are modified as an effect of the juxtaposition of the neoliberal discourse of individual self-empowerment and the traditional discourse of solidarity of the family. Finally, it is considered that although women seem to be empowered with the neoliberal discourse of self-responsibility and empowerment, they are only permitted to enforce this power for the benefit of the family rather than their individuality and condemned for their individual desires and choices. Keywords: Hegemonic femininity, Victor Turner, Social drama, Foucault, Discourse analysis, Neoliberalism, Celebrity gossip TV show