The Representation of Idealized Village Life in Media: The Case of Ana Ocagi Contest


TEKE S.

MILLI FOLKLOR, cilt.2016, sa.109, ss.17-30, 2016 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 2016 Sayı: 109
  • Basım Tarihi: 2016
  • Dergi Adı: MILLI FOLKLOR
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.17-30
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Rural life, village-city, media, representation, TV programme
  • Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Village, peasants, and rural life have been one of the important research areas from the early years of the Republic of Turkey. From time to time, village has been perceived as a part of nostalgic discourses by being romanticized and sometimes approached as a symbol of backwardness and ignorance. Even though, attitudes towards village have changed, it has always been considered to possess a vast cultural and political potential. The Folklore which takes its root and source from the nationalistic movements considers village as a place of having "pure", "natural", and "untainted" traditions. Whether, this perception has changed in time, its traces could be found in folklore studies. One of the recent competition programmes that remarks rural life, broadcasted in daytime on TRT1 television channel, Ana Ocagi. Programme presents fictionalized village life of a farmhouse located in a village, Besevler of the province, Sakarya. It is intended to recall the village life and the disappearing traditions and customs in the scope of this TV programme. The trainer mothers explain practical instructions and order relevant tasks of barn, garden and house as well as cooking to the girls who are coming from city life. Winners are awarded with the certain numbers of gold bracelets. This article investigates the first season episodes of Ana Ocagi which mainly recalls the rural life and its relevant values. It is inferred that the programme presents not the rural life itself but the envisioned version of it by the city-dwellers. It is deduced that the programme brings the village life forward with regard to natural and organic life, local cuisine and constancy to traditions and customs. Based upon the reference to the episodes analyzed, it can be concluded that the rural life is portrayed as ideal due to its offerings of natural, healthy and productive life, being isolated from technology and chaos of the city, and constancy to humanistic values, traditions and customs.