Pseudo-exiles and reluctant transnationals: disrupted nostalgia on Turkish satellite broadcasts

Abstract

There are currently close to 40,000 people of Turkish origin living in Auburn, the Turkish suburb of Sydney. Unlike their counterparts in Europe - which has been the main destination of migration flows from Turkey since late 1960s - Turks in Australia constitute communities that are very cut off from from their homeland. Some of the main underlying reasons for this rupture can be noted as both spatial and temporal distance between Turkey and Australia, the small size of the Turkish-Australian population, and the expense of making frequent visits to their country of origin. The availability of satellite television broadcasts from their home country since 2002 has gone a long way to reduce this distancing for Turkish-Australians. Only five years after becoming available, Turkish satellite channels today have become a crucial component of these migrants' daily lives. This article discusses the changes in the lives and cultural experiences of Turkish-Australians now that satellite broadcasts from Turkey have become available. The arguments in the article are drawn from ethnographic research carried out among Turkish migrants in Sydney.