Music, City and Social Change: A Study of Musical Preferences in a Former Suburb of Istanbul

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the link between the expansion of the city and the variety of taste in music with regards to the patterns of suburbanization, modernization and cultural plurality in Turkey. This study thus investigates the impact of social change on musical preferences within the context of Ataşehir, a rapidly growing former suburb of Istanbul. With a particular focus on musical preferences, it examines the predictors of taste including socio-economic and cultural background variables. In our models, by employing quantitative methods, we analyze the patterns of preference for twelve different musical genres grouped under popular, traditional and sophisticated styles. The results of our analyses reveal a high level of interest in both pop music and Turkish folk music among other genres. We thus suggest that global and local music genres coexist though a hybridization of taste at both the lower and upper end of social strata fuelled by factors such as rapid urbanization, migration and globalization. Regarding the multicultural dispositions of Istanbul, its former suburban regions display highly fragmented taste cultures where residents from different backgrounds allow a cultural conjunction in the suburban milieu.

Keywords

• Musical preferences,social change,cultural stratification,Istanbul

Müzik, Kent ve Toplumsal Değişme: İstanbul’un Eski Çeper İlçelerinden Birinde Müzik Tercihleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Bu makalenin ana amacı Türkiye’deki altkentleşme, modernleşme ve kültürel çoğulluk örüntüleri bileşkesinden yola çıkarak kentsel yayılma ve müzik beğenilerinin çeşitliliğini analiz etmektir. Buradan hareketle bu çalışma İstanbul’un hızla gelişen eski çeper ilçelerinden biri olan Ataşehir çerçevesinde, Türkiye’de toplumsal değişmenin müzik tercihleri üzerindeki etkisini araştırmaktadır. Araştırma, müzik tercihleri üzerine odaklanıp, beğenilerin belirleyicileri olarak sosyo-ekonomik ve kültürel değişkenler arka planını incelemektedir. Niceliksel araştırma yöntemleri kullandığımız araştırma modelimizde, popüler, geleneksel ve sofistike stiller büyük başlıkları altında gruplanmış on iki farklı müzik türüne yönelik tercih örüntüleri analiz edilmiştir. Analiz sonuçlarımıza göre, diğer tüm müzik türlerine kıyasla pop müzik ile türkü ya da Türk halk müziğinin en çok tercih edilen türler olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırma bulgularından hareketle, hızlı kentleşme, göç hareketleri ve küreselleşmenin etkisi altında bir ilçenin toplumsal tabakalarının hem yüksek hem düşük katmanlarında, küresel ve yerel müzik türlerinin melez estetik beğeniler oluşturacak şekilde bir arada bulunduğu ortaya konulmuştur. Buna göre, İstanbul’un çokkültürlü yapısına uygun olarak eskiden çeper ilçe olup hızla gelişen bölgelerinde çok katmanlı beğeni kamuları açığa çıkmakta, bu bölgede yaşayanlar da kentin merkezinden farklı bir ortamda farklı geçmiş ve sosyal arka plan özellikleriyle bir kültürel yol ağzı oluşturmaktadır.

Keywords

• Müzik tercihleri,toplumsal değişme,kültürel tabakalaşma,İstanbul

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