[Commlist] SERIES Vol. 8 No. 2 – CFP: Capturing the New Dynamics of Turkish Television Series: Disjunctions and Continuities

SERIES Vol. 8 No. 2 – CFP: Capturing the New Dynamics of Turkish 
Television Series: Disjunctions and Continuities
Editor(s):
Ece Vitrinel (Galatasaray University)
Yesim Kaptan (Kent State University)
Ece Algan (California State University, San Bernardino)


After a three-decade period of financial and cultural success, Turkish 
TV series have been recognized as a compelling agent in the global 
cultural milieu. Despite numerous studies on Turkish TV series, the 
ever-changing content and burgeoning markets of these dramas – as well 
as the controversial discursive spaces surrounding them – continue to 
call for further scrutiny and research. This special issue of Series: 
International Journal of TV Serial Narratives invites papers that 
explore societal, cultural and industrial implications of Turkish TV 
series in Turkey and across the world via an analysis of their content, 
production, distribution and reception.

With the global attention it has garnered due to their unique content 
and style, Turkish TV series signal the new contours of changing 
circulation, distribution and exhibition practices of international TV 
markets while igniting various political and cultural debates in Turkey 
and abroad. A wide range of themes – such as stark contrasts of life in 
urban and rural, terrorism, mafia-government relations, romantic love, 
sexual harassment, marriage, adultery, traditional family values, 
religious sentiments, and nationalist sentiments – have long dominated 
the narratives of Turkish TV series. However, the content of these 
series has been undergoing significant transitions due to a number of 
domestic factors, such as the launch of Netflix Turkey and local digital 
platforms, the shift of focus in AKP’s domestic and foreign policies, 
the rise in dissemination of nationalist and religious content, 
increasing regulatory pressure over TV broadcast, and the change in TV 
ratings system that resulted in a measurement panel with a more 
conservative audience. More conventional content that focuses on Turkish 
traditional family values and the ‘glorious’ historical past has 
flourished, along with what Iwabuchi calls “culturally odorless” 
content, seen in a wide variety of genres, such as thrillers, fantasy 
dramas, suspense, detective, and crime fiction. These changes in the 
domestic context have been further exacerbated by global demands, which 
compelled the industry to produce content for the global digital 
platforms that is capable of competing with TV series in international 
markets. The Turkish TV industry’s wider global distribution has also 
resulted in Turkish TV series reaching diverse audiences from Europe to 
Africa and from Latin America to Southwest Asia with various religious, 
cultural, ethnic, and national backgrounds.
In this special issue, we are interested in submissions that provide a 
critical assessment of the local and global transformations revolving 
around content, production, circulation, and reception of Turkish TV 
series. We welcome contributions from a variety of methodological 
approaches and theoretical perspectives that explore a range of themes 
including, but not limited to:
- Representations and reception of social class, race, ethnicity, 
nationalism, minorities,  LGBTQ+, gender, religion, age, youth
- Depiction of family, liberal and/or conservative values, orientalism, 
occidentalism, capitalism, socialist, and collectivistic ideologies - 
Representation and reception of controversial and/or taboo subjects 
Audience experiences of and reactions to Turkish TV series in the world
- Representation and reception of historical dramas and the rise of 
Turkish cultural power Global North and Global South dynamics and the 
dichotomies of East-West, modernity/tradition, urban/rural, 
public/private spheres
- The impact of state censorship, new laws and regulations on Turkish TV 
series’ narrativesNew dynamics of production and distribution of the 
Turkish TV series within and outside of Turkey
- Changing practices and formats of the Turkish TV industry in the era 
of global and local streaming services - Political and cultural 
controversies around Turkish TV series
Deadline for submissions: Full papers must be submitted before August 
22, 2022 to undergo the peer-review process.
In their submissions, authors must indicate that it is an article for 
this special issue. Inquiries about the special issue should be 
addressed to Ece Vitrinel EMAIL: (evitrinel /at/ gsu.edu.tr)
We encourage those who are interested in submitting full papers to 
contact the special issue editors with their brief ideas.
Proposed articles must comply with the journal's submission and style 
rules: https://series.unibo.it/about/submissions

Publication: December 2022

Note: No payment from authors will be required.
If you have any questions about the journal, please contact the journal 
at (seriestv /at/ upv.es).













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