Modern Türk kimliğinin çelişkili görünümleri: Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması ekseninde yazılı basın üzerine bir inceleme (1975-2013)
Özet
Modern era's understanding of culture overlooked culture as a social and cultural analysis category as well as a way of life. This point of view has lost its validity today and even there is a revived interest in culture. Culture gained significance as an area where rulership and power struggle exists and moves along in a different way. Especially the privileged existence of popular culture; having an interdependence attachment to power relations in addition to an allowing structure for alternative discourses other than the official discourse is a cruicial asset. This article examines Eurovision Song Contest with its over 50 years of traditionaled history, as a noteworthy television program of popular culture. Despite often being considered as "kitsch", depending on its format which requires the participating countries "to represent their cultural identity" the contest refers more than of an ordinary song competition. Being far from official discourse, predominantly having a nature, based on joy and allowing a more transparent discourse developed by means of the humorous elements that popular culture nature has, give a chance to reveal all the emotions and feelings regarding the debates on contest, in a natural, unfiltered and uncensored manner. All the emotional instabilities, contradictions and conflicts experienced through the contest become visible and meaningful within its context. It is claimed in this study that Turkey's position in Eurovision Song Contest offers a view of the "cultural struggle" towards Western civilization since the beginning of the modernization process. The analysis that has been made through the national print media indicated that, the contest reproduces the desire for modernity but at the same time it also reproduces the desire for traditional identity.