Selçuk iletiŞİM

Selçuk İletişim, 5, 3, 2008
22
Greece. The serial has broken watching records
especially among the young both in Greece and
Turkey.
The primary reason for this success is the pro-
duction quality of the serial. The flow, liveli-
ness and depth of the scenario behind its sim-
plicity is impressive, individuals are not pre-
sented as the ‘other’ stereotype through televi-
sion as it was in the earthquakes in the year
1999; but as concrete individuals and concrete
lives. Especially the sweet-sour tension be-
tween the ‘traditional’ generation (families)
and modern generation (today’s youth) attracts
the attention of young people. The reality of
the scenario, which is based on the classical
story of Romeo and Juliet, can be given as an
important reason for the interest shown to the
serial. Neither is a cosy picture presented with
the expressions of friend/ brother/ neighbour,
nor conventional stereotypes are created with
traditional sayings in the serial. The general
atmosphere is presented with all its negative-
ness, goodness and imperfection of the people
and their positive and negative sides are shown
to us. Another important reason for the high
watching rate is that the story has also some
comedy elements. The timidity, fear, suspicion
and enmity the two societies feel towards each
other are presented by being enriched with
comedy elements. The research (www.
hurriyet.com.tr April, 2006) by a Turkish
newspaper (Hürriyet) and a Greek newspaper
(To Vima) conducted on both sides of the Ae-
gean concerning Greek-Turkish perceptions
during the broadcast of the serial has revealed
some remarkable findings. In the research
conducted by Kapa Research public opinion
Research Company between the dates of Sep-
tember 15-26 2005, 500 in Athens and 500 in
İstanbul, a total of 1000 politicians, business-
man and journalists were interviewed. The
research, which was carried out under the con-
trol of 51 Turkish and Greek researchers and 5
supervisors, showed that the neither do Turks
and the Greek see each other as ‘brothers’ nor
as ‘the other’ or ‘rivals’. Both the Greeks and
the Turks today have a positive view of their
prime minister and their neighbour’s prime
minister. When they watch the serial ‘Yabancı
Damat’ both sides remember that ‘the Turks
and the Greeks lived together for centuries’ and
it does not cause a problem for Turks or Greeks
when they or a member of their families mar-
ries a Turk or a Greek
.
In this context, it can be possible to say that the
serial, which is watched both in Turkey and in
Greece, serves a diplomatic function consider-
ing  its  scenario.  In  our  study,  Turkish  univer-
sity students’ motivations for watching the
serial ‘Yabancı Damat’ and the changes in their
attitudes towards Greek perceptions are exam-
ined within their television watching habits, it
is questioned whether the hidden messages in
the serial ‘Yabancı Damat’ reinforce the
friendship between Turkey and Greece, help
the two countries leave the past behind and
restore the Turkish-Greek bilateral relations.
Also, the study aims to examine the correlation
between the socio-political identities of stu-
dents and their tendency towards watching the
serial.  In  this  context,  based  on  the  Uses  and
Gratifications Approach, it is aimed to reveal
the reasons why university students watch
‘Yabancı Damat’ and the results are evaluated
within the framework of Affective Disposition
Theory.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Beyond being perceived as a reliable medium,
television can influence the formation and/or
change of political ideas and attitudes of indi-
viduals,  as  in  many  other  areas,  it  is  also  ac-
cepted as a source of reference in political
matters. For example; when the responses
given to a questionnaire which was adminis-
tered simultaneously in Turkey and Greece are
evaluated, the results derived from the ques-
tionnaire reveal some surprising facts. When
the subjects are questioned about the resource
of information they have obtained on Turkish-
Greek relations, it is seen that mediums of
mass communication have taken their place in
the front ranks. According to the responses to
this question given by Turks, the proportional
ordering is; school 3 %, friends/companions 14
%, press 48 %, radio 47 %, television 79 %,
government remarks 6 %. According to the
responses given by the Greeks school 1 %,
friends/companions 16 %, press 56 %, radio 27
%, television 84 % and government remarks 10
% are acknowledged as the sources of informa-
tion about the relations with the other country
(PIAR-GALLUP 1986). These results reveal

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A Crosscultural Serial: Watching Motives Of The Serial… (20-29)
23
the fact that television is particularly accepted
as the most important source of political infor-
mation. The role of television in political so-
cialization is viewed as follows:
1. As the source of basic political education
concerning the problems of democracy, free-
dom, and social justice;
2. As an emotional codifier for local identity
and local political belief system;
3. As ideological identification in political
background
Political attitudes are strongly tied to local
identity or group identity. Television is an
effective factor in perceiving group identity
and conforming to group norms. This is espe-
cially significant for young people when it is
required to politically conform to the attitudes
of reference groups which they belong to
(Dlutsky 2006).
On  the  other  hand,  three  major  topics  in  con-
nection with the effects of television on youth
and children have been investigated: the first
one is the effects of television violence; the
second one is the effects of television advertis-
ing; and the third is the effects of television on
social learning. Within the framework of these
investigations, the role of television in political
education and socialization has never been
denied. It could be said that television is espe-
cially significant in the political socialization of
youth by (1) maintaining the assurance that
authoritative decisions are binding; (2) limiting
the volume and variety of demands; (3) prepar-
ing members of society to undertake those
roles that are relevant for maintaining the sys-
tem and (4) generating positive support for
those basic political objects without which no
system can operate at all (Dlutsky 2006).
Wiebe (1971), analyzing the role of mass
communication process in socialization, de-
fines three types of messages (Dlutsky 2006).
1) Directive media messages, 2) Maintenance
media messages and 3) Restorative media mes-
sages. Mass media, especially the television
presents the directive media messages within
the context of teacher-learner relations. In
maintenance media messages, the mass media
plays a significant role within the framework of
persuasion and sales promotion. However,
Wiebe states the three requirements which are
necessary for maintaining social norms: (a) the
audience must be predisposed to react accord-
ing to the message; (b) social provision must
exist for facilitating such actions; and (c) the
message itself must have audience appeal.
Restorative messages have the most significant
role in escapist TV serials which provide es-
cape from the realities of life in the socializa-
tion process (Dlutsky 2006).
According to Newcomb, the two most signifi-
cant elements of frequently watched television
serials are intimacy and continuity. According
to  Newcomb,  viewers  make  the  lives  and  be-
haviours of characters they see in television
serials part of their own lives (Creeber 2001:
442). People who are distressed by the artifici-
ality, ordinariness and insensitive relations
which urban life brings with it, perceive the
warmth and emotionality offered by traditional
relations as an escape from this situation and
productions which have similar themes attract
their attention (Kara 2002).
In this context, ‘why and with which motiva-
tion viewers watch television serials’ is a sig-
nificant topic of interest. In this context, our
guiding principle is the Uses and Gratifications
Approach which is the starting point for our
study. Uses and Gratifications Approach,
which is a significant turning point for com-
munication researches, is described as an es-
cape from the “effect” approach in communica-
tion  researches  and  it  is  observed  that  the
viewer who is in a passive position in tradi-
tional effect research has transformed into an
“active” viewer who makes choices to gratify
his needs. In this approach the question “what
do audiences do with the media?” has taken the
place of the question “what do the media do to
audiences?” According to the approach the
audience is at least as active as the sender. The
meaning of the message is not the meaning
attributed to it by the sender but the meaning
perceived by the audience. Individuals use the
mediums of mass communication according to
certain needs. The first studies in this area were
conducted in Colombia University in the 1940s
(Erdoğan and Korkmaz 2002: 187). Although
the Uses and Gratifications theory has a num-
ber of versions, the first and the most dominant

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