Visuals in Turkish pop: the subversive role of cultural hybrids

Abstract

Globalisation brings with it fears of cultural imperialism and a global mass culture from the West. This article contends that global imagery in the promotion of Turkish popular music actually enhances difference within Turkey. Global images are employed alongside Turkish ones to create an array of cross-cultural hybrids which Turkish viewers may read as expressions of cultural, political and social difference. A social semiotic approach is used on a sample of visuals from three genres of popular music. Analysis is complemented with an historical and social contextualisation in order to enhance understanding of how images blend the global with the local' in different ways to enable a medium of protest. Here is a case where global images are an integral part of hybrids which express dissent to national social and political issues.