Rethinking the Technoscape and Contextualizing Cellular Telephony in Turkey

Abstract

Bu makale, cep telefonunu belli toplumsal bağlamlarda oldukça popüler olan bir kültürel ürün olarak anlama arayışı içinde bir kavram geliştirme çabasındadır ve Appadurai’nin teknolojik-alan kavramını bu bağlamda tekrar düşünmeyi önermektedir. Bu çalışma teknolojik-alanın toplumsal deneyimleri içinde birbirleriyle ilişkili olan kavramlar olarak hayalin, bağın ve duygunun ne kadar önemli boyutları olduğunu vurguluyor. Teknolojik-alanı toplumsal deneyimler için hem küresel hem de yerel bir alan olarak göz önüne alırken, onun hayali ve duygusal deneyimlerine yönelik analitik bir duyarlılığın gerekliliğini iddia ediyor. Türkiye’deki ‘teknolojiler’ üzerine gelişen önemli dinamikler ve konular üzerine giriş niteliğinde ve tarihsel nitelikteki kimi açıklamaların ardından, teknolojik-alanın neden Türkiye’de tarihsel bir oluş hayali olarak kavramsallaştırılması gerektiğini ve neden bu kavramın dışında cep telefonu pratiğinin etkili ve etkin olarak ele alınamayacağı iddiasıyla bitireceğim. Bunu yaparken de, cep telefonu kullanıcılarıyla onların bu makinayla kurdukları ilişkiler hakkında yaptığım röportajlardan kimi örnekler sunacağım

Keywords

• Cep telefonu
• duygulanım
• teknolojikalan
• habitus

Rethinking the Technoscape and Contextualizing Cellular Telephony in Turkey

Abstract

This paper seeks to develop a conceptual understanding for the search of cellular telephony as an artifact, which has become incredibly popular in particular social contexts and also proposes to rethink Appadurai’s concept of technoscape. It stresses how relational concepts such as imagination, attachment and emotion defi ne inherent dimensions of social experiences of technoscape. It argues for an analytical sensitivity when considering the technoscape –and its attendant imaginational and emotional experiences –as both a global and a local site for social practices. After providing historical and introductory accounts of key dynamics and issues with regards to ‘technologies’ in Turkey, I will conclude by demonstrating why the technoscape in Turkey should be conceptualized as an historical dream of presence, outside of which cellular telephony cannot be effectively and affectively thought. By doing this I will also use some of the statements of my informants with whom I conducted interviews about their relationships with cellular telephony in their everyday lives. 

Keywords

• Cellular telephone
• affectivity
• technoscape
• habitus

References

1. Ahıska, M (2005), Radyonun Sihirli Kapısı: Garbiyatçılık ve Politik Öznellik, İstanbul: Metis.
2. Ahmed, S (2004), “Collective Feelings: Or, the Impressions Left by Others”, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 21 (2).
3. Appadurai, A (1990) “Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy”, in M Featherstone (ed.), Global culture: Nationalism, globalization and modernity, London: Sage.
4. Anderson, B. (2006) “Becoming and be-ing hopeful: towards a theory of affect”, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, vol. 24(5).
5. Bourdieu, P (1990), The Logic of Practice, Oxford: Polity. Bull, M. (2004) “Sound Connections: an aural epistemology of proximity and distance in urban culture”, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol. 22.
6. Chakravarty, P (2004) “Telecom, national development and the Indian State: a postcolonial critique” in Media, Culture and Society, Vol 26 (2).
7. De Souza e Silva, A (2006) “Interfaces of Hybrid Spaces” in A. Kavoori and N, Arceneaux (eds) The Cell Phone Reader: Essays in Social Transformation, New York: Peter Land, 2006.
8. Grossberg, L (1990) We Gotta Get Out of This Place: Popular Conservatism and Postmodern Culture, New York: Routledge.

9. Gürbilek, N (2003) “Dandies and Originals: Authenticity, Belatedness, and the Turkish Novel”, The South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 102(2/3).
10. __________(2001) ) Kötü Çocuk Türk, İstanbul: Metis
11. Hansen, M (2004) “The Time of Affect, or Bearing Witness to Life” in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 30.
12. Hayles, K (2002) “Flesh and Metal: Reconfi guring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments”, Confi gurations, Vol. 10.
13. Larkin, B (2004) “Degraded Images, Distorted Sounds:Nigerian Video and the Infrastructure of Piracy” in Public Culture, 16(2).
14. Lee and LiPuma (2002) “Cultures of Circulation: The Imaginations of Modernity” in Public Culture, 14(1).
15. Levy, P (1997) Collective Intelligence: Toward an Anthropology of Cyberspace, trans. R. Bononno. New York: Plenum.
16. Licoppe, C (2004) “ ‘Connected’ presence: the emergence of a new repertoire for managing social relationships in a changing communication technoscape” in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, vol. 22.
17. Ling, R. (2004) The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society, Boston: Morgan Kauffmann.
18. Livaneli, Z (2007), Leyla’nin Evi, Istanbul: Remzi.
19. Massey, D (1993) “Power Geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place”. in T. Bird, B. Curtis, T Putnam and G Robertson (eds) Mapping the Futures: Local Culture, Global Change. London: Routledge.
20. Massumi, B. (2002) Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation, Durham: Duke University Press.
21. Mauss, M. (1979) Sociology and Psychology, trans. B Brewster, London: Routledge.
22. Mungan, M. (2000) Teknoloji ve Ideoloji, Radikal Iki, 04. 06. 2000.
23. Nathanson, D. L. (ed.) (1996) Knowing Feeling: Affect, Script and Psychotherapy, New York: Norton.
24. Nussbaum, M. (1996) “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism” in M Nussbaum For the Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism, Boston: Beacon Press. Okabe, M., Ito D., Matsuda, M. (eds)
25. (2005) Personal, Portable Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life, MIT Press.
26. Özbek, M. (1997) “Arabesk Culture: A Case of Modernization and Popular Identity” in R. Kasaba and S. Bozdoğan (eds) Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey, London: University of Washington Press.
27. Pamuk, O. (2003), Istanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir, Istanbul: Iletişim.
28. Parla, J. (2003) “Car Narratives: A Subgenre in Turkish Novel Writing” in The South Atlantic Quarterly, 102 (2-3), Summer.
29. Plant, S (2000) “On the Mobile: The Effect of Mobile Telephones on Social and Individual Life” [http://www.motorola.com/mot/documents/0,1028, 333, 00.pdf].
30. Probyn, E. (2004) “Everyday Shame”, Cultural Studies, Vol. 18 (2/3).
31. Rafael, V (2003) “The Cell Phone and the Crowd: Messianic Politics in the Contemporary Philippines” in Public Culture, 15(3).
32. Reddy, W, M, (2001) The Navigation of Feeling: A Framework for the History of Emotion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
33. Ronell, A (1989), The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.
34. Rose, M (2006) Gathering ‘dreams of presence’: a project for the cultural landscape” in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, vol. 24.
35. Sheller, M and Urry, J (2006) “Introduction: Mobile Cities, Urban Mobilities” in M, Sheller and J, Urry (eds) Mobile Technologies of the City, New York: Routledge.
36. Sofi a, Z (2000) “Container Technologies”, Hypatia, Vol. 15(2).
37. Sterne, J (2003a) The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction, Durham: Duke University Press.
38. _______(2003b) “Bourdieu, Technique and Technology”, Cultural Studies, Vol. 17 (3/4).
39. Suner, A (2001) “Bir Bağlantı Koparma Aracı Olarak Türkiye’de Cep Telefonu”, Toplum ve Bilim, Vol. 90.
40. Tekelioğlu, O. (1996) “The Rise of a Spontaneous Synthesis: The Historical Background of Turkish Popular Music” in Turkey: identity, democracy, politics ed by S Kedourie, London: Frank Cass&Co.
41. Verbeek, P. P. (2005) What Things Do: Philosophical Refl ections on Technology, Agency, and Design, Penn State: Penn State Press.
42. Winner, L. (1993) “Artifact/Ideas and Political Culture” in A. Teich (ed) Technology and the Future, New York: St. Martin Press.