POPULAR CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS: AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO ANALYSE TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY

Popular culture studies have been mushroomed in the discipline of IR in the last decades. The field of popular culture and its relationship with International Relations (IR) discipline are studied in Turkish IR scholars but some parts are overlooked although it provides fruitful resources for IR. There are different ways to research popular culture in IR and this article aims to suggest one way to better study it in the context of Turkish Foreign Policy (TFP). The article uses some elements of Social Constructivism in IR suggested by Jutta Weldes to understand how popular culture can be a site for consent creation for foreign policies. These elements, the dual processes of articulation of the meaning and interpellation to the subject identities and intertextual meaning created by the combination of real political issues and popular fictions help us to understand why popular culture constitutes an important field when analysing foreign policies. In this context, a popular television series, Valley of the Wolves: Ambush and how it may create consent for foreign policies is examined. By explaining all these, this article aims to contribute to Turkish popular culture and Turkish IR studies.

POPÜLER KÜLTÜR VE ULUSLARARASI POLİTİKA: TÜRK DIŞ POLİTİKASININ ANALİZİNDE ALTERNATİF BİR YOL

Özellikle Soğuk Savaşın sona ermesinden sonra Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde popüler kültür araştırmaları yapılmaya başlanmıştır. Popüler kültür alanı ve Uluslararası İlişkiler disipliniyle ilişkisi, Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplinine verimli kaynaklar sağlamasına rağmen, Türk akademisyenler tarafından çok az çalışılmış ve dış politika ile ilişkisi ise çok az çalışılmamıştır. Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininde popüler kültürü araştırmanın farklı yolları vardır ve bu makale bu alanı Türk Dış Politikası bağlamında daha iyi çalışmanın bir yolunu önermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Makale, popüler kültürün nasıl dış politika için bir alan haline geldiğini anlamak için Jutta Weldes tarafından önerilen Uluslararası İlişkiler’deki Sosyal İnşacılık yaklaşımının bazı unsurlarını kullanmaktadır. Gerçek hayatta karşılaşılan siyasi konuların ve popüler kurguların bir araya gelmesiyle yaratılan metinlerarasıcı anlam ile anlamın eklemlenmesi ve özne kimliklerine çekilmesini öneren ikili süreç, dış politikaları analiz ederken popüler kültürün neden önemli bir alan oluşturduğunu anlamamıza yardımcı olmaktadır. Bu bağlamda makale, popüler bir televizyon dizisi olan Kurtlar Vadisi: Pusu’yu ve onun dış politika konusunda nasıl rıza üretebileceğini incelemiştir. Tüm bunları detaylı bir şekilde açıklayarak, bu makale Türk popüler kültür çalışmaları ve Türk Uluslararası İlişkiler çalışmalarına katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır.

PDF

___

Akşam (2014), “İşte Başbakanın okuduğu o şiir”, http://www.aksam.com.tr/siyaset/iste-basbakanin-okudugu-o-siir/haber303694 (04.07.2019).

Althusser, Louis (1971), Lenin and Philosophy and other essays (New York; London: Monthly Review Press).

Anaz, Necati and Darren Purcell (2010), “Geopolitics of film: Valley of the Wolves—Iraq and its Reception in Turkey and Beyond”, The Arab World Geographer, 13(1): 34-49.

Anaz, Necati and Ceyhun Can Özcan (2016), “Geography of Turkish Soap Operas: Tourism, Soft Power, and Alternative Narratives” in: Alternative Tourism in Turkey, p. 247-258.

Aras, Bülent (2009), “Davutoğlu Era in Turkish Foreign Policy”, Insight Turkey, 11(3): 127-142.

Bayrakdar, Deniz (2009), Cinema and Politics: Turkish cinema and the new Europe (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press).

Carney, Josh (2018), “Resur(e)recting a spectacular hero: Diriliş Ertuğrul, necropolitics, and popular culture in Turkey”, Review of Middle East Studies, 52(1): 93-114.

Çandar, Cengiz (2009), “Turkey’s Soft Power Strategy: A New Vision for a Multipolar World”, SETA Policy Brief, Vol. 38.

CNN Turk (2012), “İsrail'e: "Bunlarda her oyun var"”, https://www.cnnturk.com/2012/turkiye/12/11/israile.bunlarda.her.oyun.var/ 688199.0/index.html (04.07.2019).

Çevik, Senem. B. (2019), “Turkish historical television series: public broadcasting of neo-Ottoman illusions”, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19(2): 227- 242.

Davutoğlu, Ahmet (2014a), “Dışişleri Bakanı Sayın Ahmet Davutoğlu’nun Dünya İslam Bilginleri Barış, İtidal Ve Sağduyu İnisiyatifi Toplantısında Yaptıkları Konuşma”, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/disisleri-bakani-sayin-ahmetdavutoglu_nun-dunya-islam-bilginleri-baris_-itidal-ve-sagduyu-inisiyatifitoplantisinda-yaptiklari.tr.mfa (04.07.2019).

Davutoğlu, Ahmet (2014b), “Dışişleri Bakanı Sayın Ahmet Davutoğlu’nun Suriye Türkmen Meclisi Genel Kurul Toplantısında Yaptıkları Konuşma”, http://www.mfa.gov.tr/disisleri-bakani-sayin-ahmet-davutoglu_nun-suriyeturkmen-meclisi-genel-kurul-toplantisinda-yaptiklari-konusma_-9-mayis2014.tr.mfa (04.07.2019).

Diken, Ebru Thwaites (2018), The Spectacle of Politics and Religion in the Contemporary Turkish Cinema (Cham: Palgrave).

Dodds, Klaus (2008), “Have You Seen Any Good Films Lately? Geopolitics, International Relations and Film”, Geography compass, 2(2): 476-494.

Drezner, Daniel W. (2014), Theories of International Politics and Zombies (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

Fiske, John (2011), Television Culture, 2nd Ed. (London; New York: Routledge).

Grayson, Kyle, Matt Davies and Simon Philpott (2009), “Pop Goes IR? Researching the Popular Culture–World Politics Continuum”, Politics, 29 (3): 155-163.

Haberiyakala (2015), “HDP’li Sırrı Süreyya Önder'in Twitter hesabı ve sitesi hacklendi”, http://www.haberiyakala.com/2015-07-30-hdli-sirri-sureyyaonderin-twitter-hesabi-ve-sitesi-hacklendi-h27331.haber (04.07.2019).

Hall, Stuart (1985), “Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post‐structuralist debates”, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2 (2): 91- 114.

Hansen, Lene (2006), Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War (Oxon/New York, NY: Routledge).

Harding, Luke (2013), “Turkish protesters embrace Erdoğan insult and start 'capuling' craze”, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/10/turkishprotesters-capuling-Erdoğan (08.05.2019).

Hopf, Ted (2002), Social construction of international politics: identities & foreign policies, Moscow, 1955 and 1999 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).

Hürriyet (2012), “Erdoğan Zafer Havalimanı'nı açtı”, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/erdogan-zafer-havalimanini-acti-22010262 (04.07.2019).

Hürriyet (2014), “Polat’ın niye cep mendili yok”, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/ertugrul-ozkok/polat-in-niye-cep-mendiliyok-27157061 (04.07.2019).

Hürriyet Daily News (2013), “‘Valley of the Wolves’ actor expresses support for Morsi”, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/valley-of-the-wolves-actorexpresses-support-for-morsi.aspx?pageID=238&nID=52822&NewsCatID=381 (04.07.2019).

Idiz, Semih (2013), “Erdogan Blames International Conspiracy for Protests”, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/06/Erdogan-geziconspiracy-taksim-governance-authoritarian-akp.html (09.05.2019).

Kardaş, Şaban (2010), “Turkey: redrawing the Middle East map or building sandcastles?”, Middle East Policy, 17(1): 115-136.

Keyman, E. Fuat (2009), “Turkish foreign policy in the era of global turmoil”, SETA Policy Brief, 39: 1-16.

Kiersey, Nicholas J. and Iver B Neumann. (2013), Battlestar Galactica and International Relations (London: Routledge).

Klotz, Audie and Cecelia M. Lynch (2007), Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations (Armonk N.Y.: ME Sharpe).

Milliyet (2013), “Sen ne işe yararsın”, http://www.milliyet.com.tr/basbakanerdogan-in-rize-konusmasi/siyaset/detay/1754156/default.htm (04.07.2019).

Nexon, Daniel H. and Iver B. Neumann (2006), Harry Potter and international relations (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield).

NTV, (2013), “Erdoğan: Altında kalmaz, misliyle ödetiriz”, http://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/erdogan-altinda-kalmaz-misliyleodetiriz,Ppr8nPXDT0-rjmVG7Dtdng (04.07.2019).

NTV, (2019), “Akşener: Artık yeni bir dönem başladı (Winter is coming)”, https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/aksenerartik-yeni-bir-donem-basladi-winter-iscoming,CvAwzKhSiUebfoEbN8pZ1g (04.07.2019).

Özçetin, Burak (2019), “The show of the people’ against the cultural elites: Populism, media and popular culture in Turkey”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, March 2019: 1-16.

Radikal (2016), “Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu’nun rekoru”, http://www.radikal.com.tr/hayat/kurtlar-vadisi-pusunun-rekoru1499366/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=post&utm_term=post&ut m_content=kurtlar-vadisi-pusunun-rekoru-1499366&utm_campaign=hayat (04.07.2019).

Sarantakes, Nicholas Evan (2005), “Cold War Pop Culture and the Image of US Foreign Policy: The Perspective of the Original Star Trek Series”, Journal of Cold War Studies, 7 (4): 74-103.

Selcan Kaynak (2015), “Noor and Friends: Turkish Culture in the World”, in S. Çevik (ed.) Turkey’s public diplomacy, 233-253.

Siyah Sancak (2017), On Facebook, [Group Page], https://www.facebook.com/Siyah-Sancak-368002019944858/?fref=ts (04.07.2019).

Sözen, Ahmet (2010), “A Paradigm Shift in Turkish Foreign Policy: Transition and Challenges”, Turkish Studies, 11(1): 103-123.

Star (2014), “Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu’da Siyah Sancak açıldı”, http://www.star.com.tr/dizi/kurtlar-vadisi-pusuda-siyah-sancak-acildi-haber871844/ (04.07.2019).

Stokes, Martin (1992), “Islam, the Turkish State and Arabesk”, Popular Music, 11(2): 213-227.

Storey, John (2009), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader, 5th Ed. (Harlow; New York: Pearson Longman).

T24 (2013), “Erdoğan: Güzel gelişmeler var”, http://t24.com.tr/haber/erdoganguzel-gelismeler-var,225881 (04.07.2019).

Tackett, Michael (2019), “A ‘Game of Thrones’-Style Poster Overshadowed a Trump Cabinet Meeting. Nobody Talked About It” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/us/politics/trump-game-of-thronesposter.html (08.05.2019).

Taşpınar, Ömer (2011), “The Three Strategic Visions of Turkey”, Brookings Institution, 50:1-5.

Van Veeren, Elspeth (2009), “Interrogating 24: Making Sense of US Counterterrorism in the Global War on Terrorism”, New Political Science, 31 (3): 361- 384.

Weber, Cynthia (1999), “IR: The resurrection or new frontiers of incorporation”, European Journal of International Relations, 5 (4): 435-450.

Weber, Cynthia (2001), International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction (London: Routledge).

Weldes, Jutta (1999a), “Going cultural: Star Trek, state action, and popular culture”, Millennium-Journal of International Studies, 28 (1):117-134.

Weldes, Jutta (1999b), Constructing National Interests: The United States and the Cuban Missile Crisis (Minneapolis; London: University of Minnesota Press).

Weldes, Jutta (2003), To Seek Out New Worlds: Exploring Links Between Science Fiction and World Politics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).

Weldes, Jutta (2006), “High Politics and Low Data: Globalization Discourses and Popular Culture” in Dvora Yanow and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea (eds), Interpretation and Method: Empirical Research and the Interpretative Turn (New York; London: Routledge).

Xiaoming, Liu (2014), “Liu Xiaoming: China and Britain won the war together”, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/10546442/Liu-Xiaoming-China-andBritain-won-the-war-together.html (09.05.2019).

Yanık, Lerna K. (2009), “Valley of the Wolves–Iraq: Anti-Geopolitics Alla Turca”, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 2(1): 153-170.

Yanık, Lerna K. (2011), “Constructing Turkish “exceptionalism”: Discourses of liminality and hybridity in post-Cold War Turkish foreign policy”, Political Geography, 30(2): 80-89.

Yeni Şafak (2014), “Vadide Siyah Sancak açıldı”, http://www.yenisafak.com/gundem/vadide-siyah-sancak-acildi-637406 (04.07.2019).

Young, Robert (2015), “Going fifth freedom: fighting the War on Terror in the Splinter Cell: Blacklist video game”, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 8 (1): 147-162.

Yörük, Zafer and Vatikiotis, Pantelis (2013), “Soft Power or Illusion of Hegemony: The Case of the Turkish Soap Opera Colonialism”, International Journal of Communication, 7: 2361-2385.