Class injuries and popular cinema in Turkey:arabeskcries


AVCI Ö.

TURKISH STUDIES, vol.22, no.4, pp.644-665, 2021 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 22 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/14683849.2020.1805736
  • 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, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.644-665
  • Keywords: Arabesk films, class, melodrama, popular culture, Turkish cinema
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Arabeskis a trademark of popular culture in Turkey. At its foundation lie injuries of class, emotional wounds that society inflicts on people's sense of dignity and freedom. Literature onarabeskhas long underemphasized this salient fact. A syntagmatic and paradigmatic analysis of the narrative structure in thirty melodramas shows that the agony around whicharabeskstories unfolds is rooted in class conflict. This study also reveals remarkable parallels between depictions of love inarabeskfilms from decades ago and the lower classes' imagination of love today. Thereby, it provides confirmation of the importance of assessing the works of popular culture accurately if we are to better understand the psyche of their target audience in Turkey (and elsewhere in the capitalist world), which is primarily the subaltern segment of society.