"Once Upon a Time There was a Poor but Proud Young Man!": The Legacy of Oral Culture in Turkish Television Series

Abstract

In spite of the Ottoman modernization that started in the 19th century and the reforms of the Republic, Turkey has not yet evolved into a society of literate culture. Yesilcam Cinema, which has made people get in touch with life, leans on the legacy of oral culture products in a society that has a weak literate culture. The TV series maintain the oral culture tradition with their protagonists that look like Keloglan in the folk tales, repeating themes, everlasting plots, concentrating on external conflict rather than internal conflict and dramatic structures that are largely based on dialogs just like Yesilcam Cinema does. This study, taking recourse to Walter J. Ong's (1999) concepts of primary and secondary orality, aims to trace back the oral culture in television series produced in Turkey. Television series that are considered as the products of secondary oral culture are alike the products of primary oral culture in terms of speech patterns, archetypal heroes and audience types. Authors such as Barry Sanders (1999), Marshall McLuhan (2001), Robert Fulford (2014) and Walter Benjamin (1995) all point out the transformation of oral tradition in mass culture. Joseph Campbell (2000) analyzes oral cultures in terms of the hero's mythological journey. The characters, the theme and the plot of the TV series Kara Seuda, which was chosen for purposeful sampling, are being analyzed by using the mentioned authors' arguments in this study. Turkish TV series are watched widely in the Balkans, the Central Asia, the Arab Peninsula, the North Africa and the South America states that are still dominated by oral culture as well. The secret of this international commercial success should be sought in the historical, sociological, political, cultural and economic common ground of Turkey and the states watching Turkish TV series. This mentioned common ground can be subsumed under three categories: Experiencing a belated modernity process, being considered a third-world country and having a strong oral culture tradition. Eventually, the people of countries that suffer from similar pains find solace in similar stories.