Researching Young and Transnational Audiences of Turkish TV Drama Series in UK/European Contexts

The project examines student audiences of Turkish Television Drama in the UK and in Europe. It aims to understand how mobile identities negotiate their transnational belongings with the help of drama that might not be traditionally culturally proximate but has become part of their cultural experiences through the increasing flow of international content, including contra-flows.

Turkish TV drama is the second most-exported drama content after US television drama. Its popularity in many countries, including European ones, points to life experiences that go way beyond the nation and some dominant global cultures, such as that of the US. The project examines how international student audiences, as representatives of increasingly mobile audiences, make meaning about the programmes and their sense of belonging. Do these audiences increasingly experience their sense of belonging to multiple, or transnational spheres? And what role does Turkish TV drama play in these negotiations of identities?