Fifty shades of ''state'': The politics of conspiracy and transparency in contemporary Turkey

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1649016 (Table of Contents)

This study aims to trace the dynamics of conspiracy theories and its interplay with subjective interpretations of the dominant hegemonic order in contemporary Turkey. Firstly, based on a critical media discourse analysis, the study focuses on the extent to which anti-Semitic themes and motifs are utilized as explanatory texts to account for what happened in a political crisis situation. Secondly, based on a frame analysis of the headlines and front-page news coverage, the study aims to investigate the role of conspiracy theories as political communication tool in the process of news-production. Thirdly, based on the interviews with individuals with different political party affiliations, the study focuses on the ways in which conspiracy narratives shape and are shaped by the subjective interpretations of the dominant culture in Turkey. In considering the heterogeneity of these interpretations conveyed by various (and often competing) conspiracy narratives, this study aims to draw linkages between the popularity of a set of conspiracy narratives over others, by analyzing the role of history of the discursive repertoire of the state (“internal and external enemies”); the market for conspiracy theories; and the extent of media coverage that a particular conspiratorial account receives. In doing so, this study focuses on the individuals as active subjects in interpreting conspiracy narratives who contribute to their dissemination and elaboration within the popular culture in particular ways.