Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen successfully defended his doctoral dissertation
Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen successfully defended his doctoral dissertation
On Monday, September 22, our PhD student Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen successfully defended his dissertation on the construction of “Turkishness” in children’s magazines in Cyprus. He has thus become the latest doctoral graduate at ICSJ, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University.
His research focused on how children’s magazines, published between 1955 and 1988, constructed and communicated the concept of “Turkishness” during a period of significant historical and political change on the island. In addition to examining the discursive construction of identity, the dissertation also explored key elements that shape this identity.
The discourse of Turkishness in these magazines was primarily constructed around four main points:
- belonging to the broader Turkish nation
- being part of the Turkish Cypriot political community
- maintaining a hybrid relationship with the Turkish state
- relations with the 'other' and its complexities as the constitutive outside.
These aspects are closely linked to nationalist discourses that permeated the narratives of the analysed magazines. The research also demonstrated how the historical and political context of Turkey and Cyprus was reflected in the publications. The dissertation highlights how content aimed at children can take on a distinctly political character during times of ethnic and national conflict.
Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen and his supervisor, Extraordinary Professor at Charles University Nico Carpentier
