An Approach to Relationship between Social Psychology and Digitalization through Apocalyptic Dystopia: Avenue 5 TV Series

Öz

Utopia, which imagines a life and order with ideals such as perfection, flawlessness, and trouble-freeness, is not just an imagination of a place or space; It is a fiction, an idealized post-truth, and also a loss of truth. That's why it creates surreal arguments and puts dystopia in front of it. This tendency makes dystopia attractive and striking. It is known that phantasmagoria is used in utopia and dystopia. When dystopia is considered as a narrative, it has a critical quality with its theme and fiction. Indeed, critical dystopia also refers to this. Dystopian media outputs draw critical attention to the point where society and the system are or have reached, with the story they tell through pessimism and negativity, or the (possible) views they point to. In this context, dystopia predicts the situation through arguments such as fear and panic, but also sometimes through absurdities. When criticizing the situation in question, society can be portrayed as having evolved and become alienated from itself. This paradigm observed more in the case of cyberpunk, also uses fear and appeal in meta-narratives. Dystopia, which is known to criticize an order or system in a slightly exaggerated and imaginary way, also re-establishes the relationship between the future and reality. While oppressive control, the decisiveness of technology, surveillance, fear, panic, and pessimism are the arguments used to characterize it, criticisms regarding the environment of trust also attract attention. It is often portrayed in favor of the individual behaving by the group rather than individually. In dystopian outputs, various forms of control are seen. For example, a control related to public administration, such as a rule-based control or a technology-based control, is observed. The dystopian order that regulates society can also use belief as a control tool. An imaginary order is established through the collective memory and various commonalities of the society, and elements that have an impact and trace on the individual are used. While oppression and fear are tried to be attractive, the costs of breaking the rules are shown. This constructed reality reconstructs identities and selves, as well as the perception of truth. It even problematizes them and pushes them to adapt to the form of a dystopian order. Utopian or dystopian outputs sometimes present the moment, place, and situation in the form of deceptive images. This deception is sometimes attractive, often it is fiction, imaginary. However, phantasmagoria, which can be accepted as the reality or construction of that moment, is quite impressive.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dystopia
• Apocalypse
• Social Psychology
• Digitalization
• Avenue 5

SOSYAL PSİKOLOJİ VE DİJİTALLEŞME İLİŞKİSİNE APOKALİPTİK DİSTOPYA ÜZERİNDEN BİR YAKLAŞIM: AVENUE 5 DİZİSİ

Öz

Bilim kurgu türde sıkça gözlenen distopya, teması ve kurgusu çerçevesindeki alt bağlamıyla bir eleştiridir. Karamsarlık, olumsuzluk üzerinden bir hikâye anlatan ya da (olası) görünüm sunan distopik medya çıktıları toplumun, sistemin bulunduğu ya da vardığı noktayı korku, panik gibi argümanlar üzerinden yordadığı gibi zaman zaman absürtlükler üzerinden de yordar. Distopik evrenin yarattığı gelecek apokaliptik ve post-apokaliptik nitelikler taşır. Teknoloji ile yaratılan sona ilişkin çıkış yolu, kurtulma aracı da yine teknolojidir. Diyalektik görünen bu ilişki, zaman zaman fantazmagorik anlatıları da kullanır. Nitekim bazı distopik medya çıktılarında aldatıcı görüntüler, sonu gelen ya da gelmiş olan evrende olan biteni hakikat algısını sorgulatarak verir; distopazlar, otoriter karakterler dikkat çeker, simüle edilmiş bir evren tasvirinde bireyin içsel yabancılaşma gibi kaçınılmaz sonda otorite karşısında itaate yöneldiği de görülür. Entropik bir süreç olarak distopik kurguda krizler ve kaos vardır ve toplum korku, panik ile yordanır. Bu çalışmada, Milgram’ın “Otoriteye İtaat Deneyi”nden hareketle sosyal psikoloji ve dijitalleşme ilişkisi, gezegenler arası yolculuğun işlendiği bir dizi olan Avenue 5 örnekleminde otoriteye itaat ve grup psikolojisini anlamak amacıyla betimsel analiz tekniği ile incelenmiştir. İnceleme sonucunda, dijitalleşmenin sayısız olanağının gösterildiği Avenue 5’da yaratılan distopik geleceğin absürd olduğu, bireyin büründüğü rol çerçevesinde kendisine yabancılaşabildiği, otoriteye itaat ve grup psikolojisi noktasındaki uyma davranışının ise bireyler arası kolektif unsurlar ile ilişkili olduğu söylenebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Distopya
• Apokalips
• Sosyal Psikoloji
• Dijitalleşme
• Avenue 5

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