Research Article

The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye

Volume: 41 Number: 2 June 22, 2026
TR EN

The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye

Abstract

This article examines the culture-power relationship in Türkiye by employing the concept of cultural power as an analytical extension of Gramscian hegemony. Cultural power does not seek to replace hegemony; rather, it helps explain the institutional, administrative, symbolic, and affective processes through which the state participates in the organization of the cultural field. Focusing on the TRT historical dramas Diriliş: Ertuğrul and Payitaht: Abdülhamid, the article examines how historical narratives construct continuity between the Ottoman-Seljuk past and contemporary political imagination. Methodologically, the study combines critical discourse analysis with thematic narrative analysis in order to explore the ideological and affective functions of these productions. The article argues that these series render cultural power visible by transforming historical continuity, enemy construction, and affective identification into symbolic resources of contemporary political legitimacy.

Keywords

References

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  3. Altun, F. (2016: 171-173). Rising critism of Erdoğan during the Gezi Protests. Ü. Cizre içinde, The Turkish AK Party and its Leader (s. 166-182). London&New York: Routledge.
  4. Aydemir, Ş. (2025: 12-15). AKP'nin kültür savaşı: İmha ve inkâr kıskacında sanat. İstanbul: İletişim.
  5. Carney, J. (2019: 110-111). ResurReaction: Competing visions of Turkey’s (proto) Ottoman Past in Magnificent Century and Resurrection Ertuğrul. Middle East Critique, 28(2), 101-120.
  6. Cloughh, F. (2018). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Routledge.
  7. Çevik, S. B. (2019: 234-235). Turkish historical television series: public broadcasting of neo-Ottoman illusions. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 19(2),227-242.
  8. Çevik, S. B. (2020: 182). The Empire Strikes Back: Propagating AKP’s Ottoman Empire Narrative on Turkish Television. Middle East Critique, 29(2), 177-197.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Turkish Political Life, Political Science (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 22, 2026

Submission Date

April 9, 2026

Acceptance Date

June 8, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 41 Number: 2

APA
Aksoy, B. (2026). The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye. İzmir İktisat Dergisi, 41(2), 509-538. https://doi.org/10.24988/ije.1926842
AMA
1.Aksoy B. The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye. İzmir İktisat Dergisi. 2026;41(2):509-538. doi:10.24988/ije.1926842
Chicago
Aksoy, Batıkan. 2026. “The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye”. İzmir İktisat Dergisi 41 (2): 509-38. https://doi.org/10.24988/ije.1926842.
EndNote
Aksoy B (June 1, 2026) The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye. İzmir İktisat Dergisi 41 2 509–538.
IEEE
[1]B. Aksoy, “The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye”, İzmir İktisat Dergisi, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 509–538, June 2026, doi: 10.24988/ije.1926842.
ISNAD
Aksoy, Batıkan. “The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye”. İzmir İktisat Dergisi 41/2 (June 1, 2026): 509-538. https://doi.org/10.24988/ije.1926842.
JAMA
1.Aksoy B. The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye. İzmir İktisat Dergisi. 2026;41:509–538.
MLA
Aksoy, Batıkan. “The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye”. İzmir İktisat Dergisi, vol. 41, no. 2, June 2026, pp. 509-38, doi:10.24988/ije.1926842.
Vancouver
1.Batıkan Aksoy. The Visible Face of Cultural Power: TRT Series and Historical Narratives in Türkiye. İzmir İktisat Dergisi. 2026 Jun. 1;41(2):509-38. doi:10.24988/ije.1926842
İzmir Journal of Economics
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