Ortadoğu'da Dijital Platformlar ve Elit Temsilleri: Kültürel Hegemonya, Karşı-Hegemonya ve Medya Söylemleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Ortadoğu'da dijital platformlar üzerinden sunulan elit temsillerini inceleyen bu çalışma, Netflix'te yayımlanan Dubai Bling, AlRawabi School for Girls ve The Spy dizilerini kültürel hegemonya, karşı-hegemonya ve postkolonyal kuram bağlamında analiz etmektedir. Bu çalışma, Netflix’teki Dubai Bling, AlRawabi School for Girls ve The Spy dizilerinde elit temsillerini kültürel hegemonya ve postkolonyal kuram çerçevesinde sahne ölçekli eleştirel söylem ve görsel-semiotik analizle inceler. Bulgular, lüks ikonografisi ve güvenlik estetiğinin ekonomik/politik sermayeyi simgesel otoriteye dönüştürdüğünü; karşı-hegemonik anlatıların ise sınırlı kaldığını gösterir. Dubai Bling’de tüketim ritüelleri meşruiyeti estetize eder; AlRawabi’de okul mekânı ve disiplin, cinsiyetlendirilmiş hiyerarşiyi sahneler; The Spy’da renk ve kadrajlar “düzen/kaos” ikiliğini kurar. Alt sınıf ve madun özneler genellikle görünmezdir. Sonuç olarak dijital platformlar, yerel-küresel simbiyozda elit imgesini yeniden üreten ideolojik aygıtlar olarak işler; çalışma, estetik meşrulaştırmayı sahne düzeyinde operasyonelleştirerek meşruiyetin görsel göstergelerini sistematik biçimde haritalar. Sonuç olarak, çalışma dijital platformların elit temsillerini yerel-küresel simbiyoz içinde yeniden üreten ideolojik aygıtlar olduğunu vurgulayarak, dijital medya çalışmalarına disiplinlerarası bir katkı sunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Kültürel Hegemonya
• Dijital Platformlar
• Elit Temsilleri
• Sembolik Sermaye
• Postkolonyal Kuram.

Digital Platforms and Elite Representations in the Middle East: Examination of Cultural Hegemony, Counter Hegemony, and Media Discourses

Abstract

The article analyzes elite representations in Netflix’s Dubai Bling, AlRawabi School for Girls, and The Spy through scene-level critical discourse and visual-semiotic analysis. It shows how luxury iconography and security aesthetics convert economic/political capital into symbolic authority, while counter-hegemonic narratives remain weak. Dubai Bling aestheticizes consumption; AlRawabi stages gendered hierarchy through school space and discipline; The Spy visualizes an order/chaos binary via grading and framing. Subaltern actors are largely invisible. We conceptualize this as aesthetic legitimation under platform capitalism: performances are ritualized, visibility is governed, and legitimacy travels from narrative to paratexts. Digital platforms thus function as ideological apparatuses that reproduce elite imagery in a local–global symbiosis. The findings underscore digital platforms as ideological apparatuses that reproduce elite imagery through a local–global symbiosis, and they also map indicators of elite legitimacy by operationalizing critical theory at the scene level.

Keywords

• Digital Platforms
• Cultural Hegemony
• Elite Representations
• Symbolic Capital
• Post‑colonial Theory.

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