Transnational Viewers of Turkish Television Drama Series

Abstract

Since the mid-2000s, Turkish television drama series have been exported to many countries and attracted an unprecedented transnational audience. However, despite popularity, there is paucity of research focusing on the transnational understanding(s) of Turkish television drama audiences in different geographies. Through a reception analysis of three mostly cited television series among participants Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), Kuzey Güney (North South), this study aimed at offering an understanding beyond overly stated cultural/religious proximity explanations to ascertain traces and elements of empowerment that citizens feel coming through their act of consuming Turkish dramas. For that purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with Iranian viewers of Turkish television series living in the Austrian capital Vienna. Interpretation of that collected qualitative material suggests re-thinking of the transnational audience’s consumption practices that expand tourism and trade flows and other related businesses between the two countries.

Entre el rol de género tradicional y otros modelos de maternidad: estudio de caso de la representación de las madres de las series turca “Las Mil y Una Noches” y “Fuerza de Mujer”

“…A pesar de la existencia de una literatura muy extensa que se interesa por la representación de las mujeres en la televisión, pocos estudios estudian a la figura materna que aparece en la pantalla de la televisión y, en particular, existen vacíos respecto a este tema vinculado a las teleseries turcas. En ese sentido, los estudios sobre estos programas televisivos están más dirigidos a analizar cuestiones como proximidad cultural (Yanardadoglu y Karam, 2013; Kaptan y Algan, 2020), diplomacia blanda (Aslan, 2019), estudios de recepción (Larochelle, 2019), de distribución (Herrada Hidalgo et al, 2021), de transnacionalización (Yesil, 2015;Ozalpman, 2017), entre otros. Finalmente, dado que las representaciones de la maternidad adquieren distintas formas en las producciones televisivas -sean estas idealizadas o conservadoras-, el estudio acabado de estas representaciones de la maternidad en cuanto rol de género como plantea este trabajo es crucial.…”

The Effect of the Turkish Series on the Latin American Societies in the Context of the Culture Industry

“…The positive reception of Turkish TV series, which has increased its influence in Latin American countries in recent years, in Middle Eastern societies for the first time has been tried to be explained by cultural affinity and similar sociocultural motivations (Ozalpman, 2017). Although there is a partial truth in these inferences, the positive reception of TV series in Latin American societies showed that the research should be examined in a different direction.…”

“…For example, in countries such as Iran and Pakistan, TV series have been shown as the reason for the increasing divorce rates and are partially banned. Likewise, it was brought to the agenda that TV series broadcast in some Middle Eastern countries were canceled because they were against Islamic values (Ozalpman, 2017). Apart from this, countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia have periodically imposed restrictions on imported products, including Turkish TV series, according to the course of bilateral political relations with Türkiye.…”