Digital Intimate Publics, Yesilcam Fandom and Nostalgia for Old Turkey

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The golden age of Turkish popular cinema (hereafter referred to as Yesilcam) came to an abrupt halt withthe 1980 military coup. The popular cultural heritage of Yesilcam continues to influence not only currentTurkish TV series but also the way various audiences relate to the past. After 2015 when freedom ofexpression was diminished and means of public debate were eradicated in Turkey, the consumption ofYesilcam films have mobilised new spaces for the communication of political discourses and affectiveengagements with politics. The digital revival of Yesilcam has also become an arena for communities toredefine popular cultural heritage through fan labour.This research aims to consider young dissident women and LGBTI+s (aged 20-30) as the two digital"intimate publics" of Yesilcam films (Berlant, 2008), and to address how these audiences engage withcurrent authoritarian political discourses through their online interactions. Berlant's concept suggeststhat popular cultural texts by their address construct a sense of community, through feelings imagined tobe shared by a certain audience. The discussion and consumption of these texts provide a space forminorities to deal with, identify, and express the feelings that come with the experience of subordination,which allows enduring, resisting or coming to terms with their sociocultural position. I will explorewomen's and LGBTI+s' contentious relation to politics and aim to capture their multi-layeredengagement with Yesilcam films, in a political context defined by oppressive and violent politics ofsexuality.The research will follow a mixed method approach that combines a) a virtual ethnography of Facebookfan groups and a discourse analysis of fan discussions on select YouTube channels, b) archival research,c) virtual shadowing with twenty participants (women and LGBTI+ individuals identifying as dissident,digital natives aged 20-30), and d) in-depth interviews with 10-15 amateur archivists.This research builds on my master's thesis about the role of affect in audience identification withYesilcam melodramas during 1960-1980. This project has allowed me to gain insights and contacts fromthe field, which I will use as point of entry into the fieldwork. Furthermore, I have extensive experience inethnographic fieldwork both through my professional work in civil society research and academic work. Iwas also recruited to conduct an archival study for GABAM at Koc University, the article is pendingpublication.