Neo-Ottoman Cool: Turkish Popular Culture in the Arab Public Sphere

TLDR

Turkish television dramas have become wildly popular in the Arab world, a surprising trend given the 400‑year Ottoman legacy and Turkey’s historically indifferent foreign policy toward Arab interests. The study seeks to explain why these dramas resonate with Arab audiences amid a period of unprecedented Arab cultural vibrancy. By systematically analyzing pan‑Arab discourse on Turkish popular culture, the authors identify that some dramas portray an accessible modernity while others present a counter‑hegemonic narrative that casts Middle Easterners as heroes. The surge of Turkish dramas in the Arab public sphere reveals geopolitical and geocultural implications of transnational media flows.

Abstract

In the past decade, Turkish television drama has enjoyed popular success in the Arab world, fueling wide-ranging controversies in the pan-Arab public sphere. Such popularity is at first sight puzzling. After all, Arabs lived under Ottoman rule for 400 years, and for most of the 20th century Turkey's foreign policy neglected Arab interests. Why, then, would Turkish drama be popular with Arab audiences, especially at a time of unprecedented vibrancy in Arab cultural production? This article grapples with that question via a systematic analysis of pan-Arab discourse about Turkish popular culture, concluding that some Turkish dramas conjure up an accessible modernity while others enact a counter-hegemonic narrative that puts Middle Easterners in the role of heroes. The rise of Turkish television drama in the Arab public sphere offers insights into the geopolitical underpinnings and geocultural consequences of transnational media flows.