AN IMAGINARY WORLD: PERCEPTIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE FEMALE STUDENTS OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN CHINESE AND TURKISH TV DRAMAS

Abstract

          Television dramas are considered an important tool to construct and communicate a certain identity of a state or a group and this has been used by all states and groups irrespective of their geographical location and political, cultural, social, and religious affiliation. The use of TV content has proved an effective tool for all types of governance systems to construct and present states or a group’s narrative and perspective. The TV dramas made in Turkey and China are also constructing a certain notion of Turkish and Chinese societies. This study analyzed the data collected in focus group discussions from undergraduate students after they have watched the chosen Turkish and Chinese TV dramas, one Turkish and one Chinese drama focusing on how female characters were constructed and presented in the dramas. The discussion revealed that students found the portrayal of female characters very different from the real-world stories of women in Turkey and China but at the same time they also thought that these dramas could prove a turning point in changing the male-dominated perspective of these societies.