Representations of masculinities in the post-1960s Turkish cinema /

Abstract

The changing paradigms of gender roles enable us to encounter with various representations of masculinity and femininity in different decaes in the Turkish cinema. Focusing on the changing face of masculinity, and regarding the relation between masculinity and femininity, the analysis covers the approximately 45 years, a time phase remarked with changes which have sharply affected the microsocial and macrosocial levels of the society. Discussed within the western understanding of gener and masculinity theories, and through the socio-political environment of Turkey during the particular time period, the various representations of masculinity can be witnessed. The 1960s melodramas and the 1970s erotic films were followed by a rupture in the 1980s with the emergence of the women's films. A second rupture occurred in the second half of the 1990s as the men's films succeeed the women's films. The work of this thesis includes the analysis of the (re)construction of the hegemonic masculinities and the plurality of masculinities and the investigation of the existence and the evolution of a crisis of masculinity during the period in question.