Masculinity, Power, and Class Discourse in Yalı Çapkını: A Critical Media Analysis

Abstract

This study examines how hegemonic masculinity, class privilege, and gendered obedience are constructed and reproduced in the Turkish television series Yalı Çapkını through a multimodal critical discourse analysis. The research addresses the following question: How does Yalı Çapkını construct and maintain gender and class hierarchies through verbal, visual, and spatial discourse? Drawing on a gender-focused media perspective, the analysis investigates four episodes (2, 14, 27, and 40) selected for their thematic and discursive density. The findings reveal that male characters assert authority through direct commands, spatial centrality, and emotional restraint, while female characters are positioned through silence, indirect expression, and moral framing. Silence is found to function not only as a sign of submission but also as a limited form of resistance. The visual and spatial organization of scenes—such as character placement, camera framing, and domestic space—further reinforce patriarchal and class-based authority. The study contributes to critical media research by showing how gendered power is symbolically performed in popular television through communicative asymmetry and aesthetic strategies. By situating the analysis within the cultural and narrative context of Turkish media, the study offers both theoretical and methodological insights. Future research may benefit from including audience reception data, expanding intersectional analysis, or conducting cross-cultural comparisons to explore how these symbolic power structures resonate beyond national boundaries

Keywords

• Turkish TV Dramas
• Masculinity
• Class Discourse
• Gender Representation
• Critical Discourse Analysis

Yalı Çapkını Dizisinde Erkeklik, İktidar ve Sınıf Söylemi: Eleştirel Bir Medya Analizi

Öz

Bu çalışma, Yalı Çapkını adlı Türk televizyon dizisinde hegemonik erkeklik, sınıf ayrıcalığı ve toplumsal cinsiyet itaati söylemlerinin nasıl inşa edildiğini çok modlu eleştirel söylem analizi yöntemiyle incelemektedir. Araştırma, şu temel soruya yanıt aramaktadır: Yalı Çapkını dizisi, sözlü, görsel ve mekânsal söylemler yoluyla erkeklik, sınıf ve toplumsal cinsiyet rollerini nasıl inşa edip yeniden üretmektedir? Çalışmada toplumsal cinsiyetin medyadaki temsili, erkek egemen normlar, sembolik güç yapıları ve kadın karakterlerin sınırlı ajansları üzerinden analiz edilmiştir. Tematik ve söylemsel yoğunluğu yüksek dört bölüm (2, 14, 27 ve 40) üzerinden yapılan çözümleme, erkek karakterlerin otoriteyi doğrudan komutlar, fiziksel yerleşim üstünlüğü ve duygusal mesafe yoluyla kurduğunu göstermektedir. Kadın karakterlerin ise sessizlik, dolaylı ifade biçimleri ve ahlaki çerçevelemelerle temsili dikkat çekmektedir. Sessizlik yalnızca bastırma değil; aynı zamanda sınırlı bir direnç biçimi olarak da okunmaktadır. Çalışma, popüler medyada sınıf ve toplumsal cinsiyet temelli hiyerarşilerin nasıl meşrulaştırıldığını ortaya koymakta ve Türkiye bağlamında eleştirel medya çözümlemelerine kuramsal ve yöntemsel katkı sunmaktadır. Gelecek araştırmalarda izleyici alımları, kesişimsel temsiller ve kültürlerarası karşılaştırmalara yer verilmesi önerilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Türk Televizyon Dizileri
• Erkeklik
• Sınıf Söylemi
• Toplumsal Cinsiyet Temsili
• Eleştirel Söylem Analizi

References

1. Aksoy, A., & Robins, K. (2000). Thinking across spaces: Transnational television from Turkey. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 3(3), 343–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/136754940000300307
2. Althusser, L. (1971). Ideology and ideological state apparatuses. In L. Althusser (Ed.), Lenin and philosophy and other essays (pp. 127–186). Monthly Review Press.
3. Arslan, S. (2021). Masculinity and heroism in Turkish historical television series: A discourse analysis of Diriliş: Ertuğrul. Journal of Middle Eastern Media Studies, 5(2), 134–152.
4. Banet-Weiser, S. (2018). Empowered: Popular feminism and popular misogyny. Duke University Press.
5. Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Harvard University Press.
6. Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.
7. Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Polity Press.
8. Demir, A., & Oğuz, E. (2019). Representation of women in Turkish television serials: A feminist critical discourse analysis. Women's Studies International Forum, 74, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.002

9. Dobson, A. S., Robards, B., & Carah, N. (2018). Digital intimacies, gender and social media. Palgrave Macmillan.
10. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
11. Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality: 1. Pantheon Books.
12. Gill, R. (2007). Postfeminist media culture: Elements of a sensibility. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(2), 147–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549407075898
13. Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks (Q. Hoare & G. Nowell Smith, Eds. & Trans.). International Publishers.
14. Hall, S. (1997). The work of representation. In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 13–74). SAGE.
15. Jones, R. H., Chik, A., & Hafner, C. A. (2015). Discourse and digital practices: Doing discourse analysis in the digital age. Routledge.
16. Kara, S., & Yılmaz, H. (2022). The politics of domestic space: Gender and power in Turkish television dramas. Media and Communication, 10(3), 61–72. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i3.5322
17. Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis: A multimodal introduction. SAGE.
18. McRobbie, A. (2020). Feminism and the politics of resilience: Essays on gender, media and the end of welfare. Polity Press.
19. Öncü, A. (2021). Globalization and the cultural politics of Turkish television drama. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(4), 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877920959394
20. Parikka, J. (2012). What is media archaeology? Polity Press.
21. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). SAGE.
22. Skeggs, B. (2021). Formations of class and gender: Becoming respectable. Routledge.
23. Tasker, Y., & Negra, D. (2007). Introduction: Feminist politics and postfeminist culture. In Y. Tasker & D. Negra (Eds.), Interrogating post-feminism: Gender and the politics of popular culture (pp. 1–25). Duke University Press.
24. Turan, A., & Göksel, A. (2017). Patriarchal codes and masculinity in Turkish historical TV dramas: A discourse analysis of Muhteşem Yüzyıl. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 13(1), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.13.1.45_1
25. van Dijk, T. A. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 249–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006
26. Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2016). Methods of critical discourse studies (3rd ed.). SAGE.
27. Yardımcı, S. (2020). The illusion of agency: Representations of women in Turkish prime-time series. European Journal of Women's Studies, 27(2), 171–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506819879173