Civilization Industry: An Eastern Perspective on the Culture Industry

Year 2021, , 103 - 121, 22.10.2021

Abdullah Metin

https://doi.org/10.52539/mad.726610

Abstract

The concept of the culture industry, which was raised by the Frankfurt School, is based on the critique of consumer society. Many authors contributed to this critique, but almost all handled the subject from the Western perspective. Numerous amounts of works have dealt with the concept of the culture industry and related topics, like modernism, consumer society, capitalism, etc. by non-western authors, but few of those have studied the issue academically and comparatively. This paper aims to analyze the concept of the culture industry and its effects on the Eastern civilizations, from the Eastern perspective. The paper reveals that although both dwell on the concept from a critical perspective, the Eastern and the Western thinkers do not share the same concerns. While Western thinkers focus on individuals and consider the issue in the context of freedom, Eastern thinkers pay more attention to national and religious ties and highlight the importance of identity. The paper also conceptualizes the latter approach as the civilization industry.

Keywords

Civilization Industry, culture industry, Frankfurt School, Ali Shariati, cultural alienation, capitalist civilization

Medeniyet Endüstisi: Kültür Endüstrisine Doğulu Bir Bakış

Abstract

Frankfurt Okulu tarafından geliştirilen kültür endüstrisi kavramı tüketim toplumunun eleştirisine dayanır. Bu eleştiriye katkı sağlayan hemen her yazar meseleyi Batılı bir bakış açısından ele almıştır. Kültür endüstrisi ve onunla ilişkili modernizm, tüketim toplumu, kapitalizm gibi konularda Batılı olmayan yazarlar tarafından sayısız eser üretilmesine rağmen, çok azı akademik hassasiyetleri gözeterek karşılaştırmalı çalışılmıştır. Bu makale, Doğulu bir bakış açısıyla, kültür endüstrisinin Doğu üzerindeki etkisini analiz etmeyi amaçlamıştır. Analiz sonucunda-her ikisi de kültür endüstrisine eleştirel yaklaşmakla birlikte- Doğulu ve Batılı yazarların endişelerinin aynı olmadığı görülmüştür. Öyle ki, Batılı yazarlar bireye odaklanmakta ve konuyu bireyin özgürlüğü ekseninde ele almaktadırlar. Doğulu yazarlar ise dini ve milli bağlara daha fazla önem atfetmekte ve konuyu kimlik bağlamında değerlendirmektedirler. Bu makale, ikinci yaklaşımı medeniyet endüstrisi şeklinde kavramsallaştırmayı önermektedir.

Keywords

medeniyet endüstrisi, kültür endüstrisi, frankfurt okulu, ali şeriati, kültürel yabancılaşma, kapitalist medeniyet

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