Mapping Yeşilçam: a Relational Approach To the Turkish Film Industry

Abstract

Turkey’s Yeşilçam film industry produced more than 5500 films during its 40-year lifetime. The industry had a unique narrative approach, shaped around its economic model, Turkey’s ambivalent connection with modernization and the country’s domestic culture. Yet, particular characteristic qualities of the industry remained rather limited until the last decade, in which vast databases emerged as a consequence of the digital turn. In this study, we develop a relational approach and conduct network analysis, with the aim to better understand the patterns of Yeşilçam’s constitution. Our findings suggest that, rather than a homogenous industry, as often considered by film scholarship, Yeşilçam was divided into two main clusters with significantly different professional, narrative and financial dynamics. © 2021, University Library System, University of Pittsburgh. All rights reserved.