Thursday, April 02, 2015

Romance IX: Kismet! Turkish Soap Operas and the Global Culture of Popular Romance (Special Session)

Romance IX: Kismet! Turkish Soap Operas and the Global Culture of Popular Romance (Special Session)

The popularity of contemporary Turkish soap operas in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, and Asia has sparked avid discussions of issues related to sexuality, women's rights, and the politics of popular culture.  This special session will feature a rare American showing of KISMET, an award-winning short documentary film (58 minutes long) about these TV shows, their makers, and their global fandom, followed by a discussion of the film led by romance scholar Heather Schell, who has studied popular romance in Turkey, romance Area Chair Eric Selinger, and Katherine Larsen of the PCA Fan Studies area.  As these discussion leaders will demonstrate, the content of these discussions bears striking similiarities to debates over the value and effect of popular romance fiction in Anglophone cultures; however, the context of the discussions is often radically different, depending on the viewing locale.  Comparisons to the content and reception of other international TV dramas--e.g., Korean dramas of the Hallyu [Korean wave] will also be addressed.

No comments:

Post a Comment