The function of humor and ideological discourse in Turkish Islamist humor magazines: the case of Misvak

Tetik Çoğalan N. H.

Turkish Studies, vol.26, no.2, pp.391-414, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 26 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/14683849.2024.2417079
  • Journal Name: Turkish Studies
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.391-414
  • Keywords: discourse, hegemony, Humor, ideology, Islamist humor magazines
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article focuses on the ideological discourse of Misvak, one of Turkey's most popular Islamist humor magazines in the 2000s. By analyzing the magazine’s cartoons, it first attempts to reveal the general characteristics and function of humor in Misvak. It then discusses how Islamism is presented as the primary ideological position in the magazine. In order to uncover absences and silences in the discourse, the purpose of the study is also to investigate whether there is discursive parallelism between the magazine and the AKP government by analyzing visual texts while positioning the magazine within debates over hegemony.