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Internet troll humour or subtle subversion? Imagining #imamhatiplerkapatilsin as a counter-hegemonic space
Abstract
In March 2016, Gericilige Karsi Aydinlanma Hareketi (“Awakening Movement against Reactionism”), an activist platform protesting against the AKPs self-proclaimed aim to raise a pious generation, released the first issue of their monthly publication with the headline Imam Hatipler Kapatilsin (“Imam Hatip schools must be closed”). The provocatively titled issue was dedicated to the explaining why religious schooling in Turkey needed to be banned. Before long, state prosecutors filed a court case against the platform on the grounds that the headline “intentionally insulted the religious beliefs of the nation” and the publication was only able to run for two more issues. Soon afterwards however, the slogan - ?mam Hatipler Kapatilsin - resurfaced on social media as a hashtag. Here, #imamhatiplerkapatilsin rapidly turned into a viral phenomenon, regularly becoming a top trending (TT) subject on Twitter. Despite the popularity of the hashtag, #imamhatiplerkapatilsin makes no explicit political demands. Rather, one might say that the hashtag is a parody of a political demand. Although this may cause some to dismiss the hashtag as a product of apathetic Internet troll culture, this paper argues that space, rather than the message, is the political aspect of the hashtag. As such, it needs to be imagined as hosting a prefigurative free space - open to expressing values that radically differ from those characterizing mainstream society. In a society characterized by a decline of democratic freedoms and encroaching conservatism, a space for the unrestricted expression of what some would consider as blasphemy needs to be seen as the ultimate political act. It turns the hashtag - a simple convention of online communication - into a beacon for attracting counter-hegemonic challenges. The aesthetics of this cultural challenge itself are drawn from graffiti, Internet memes and Turkish humour culture. Presenting from an archive of more than 5,500 tweets collected during 2017, this paper intends to explore the relationship between #imamhatiplerkapatilsin and broader themes of atheism and unbelief in everyday life. It also seeks to connect the case study to a discussion on the role of humour in Turkish society as a form of resistance and a vehicle for the articulation of counter-hegemonic culture(s).
Discipline
Communications
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
Media