Question A
1. Describe in which ways the documentary shows processes of women’s empowerment by
using Fabian’s (1998) view on popular culture and freedom, and Klassen’s (2014)
chapter 4 on Performativity (4 points).
Gümüş and Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? are soaps about modern Turkish women that are successful,
have their own moral values and are self-determined. These soaps facilitated emancipation
among women in the sense of speaking out against sexual harrasment, rape and abuse or even
filing a lawsuit. In other words, naturalized performances and notions of romance, gender and
political power can lose their meaning (Klassen 2014, 80) due to cultural products (‘weapons of
the weak’) that challenge the hegemony (Fabian 1998, 18). Popular culture can raise issues about
power, because it tends to challenge things that are affirmed about culture (Fabian 1998, 3).
Therefore, it can function as a form of resistance against dominant forces, (Fabian 1998, 18),
which can create individual freedom in an oppressive environment (Fabian 1998, 19). Soap
operas like this portray religious tradition with a more progressive take on it (Oosterbaan 2020).
Just like Butler’s study on the performativity of drag revealed the contingent nature of gender
(Klassen 2014, 80), the subversive performances in these operas can inspire women to
comprehend the contextual nature of notions like gender and political power. Thus, these
performances defy and reiterate (Klassen 2014, 80) and create awareness about the
constructedness of these notions (Klassen 2014, 91).
1. Describe in which ways the documentary shows processes of women’s empowerment by
using Fabian’s (1998) view on popular culture and freedom, and Klassen’s (2014)
chapter 4 on Performativity (4 points).
Gümüş and Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? are soaps about modern Turkish women that are successful,
have their own moral values and are self-determined. These soaps facilitated emancipation
among women in the sense of speaking out against sexual harrasment, rape and abuse or even
filing a lawsuit. In other words, naturalized performances and notions of romance, gender and
political power can lose their meaning (Klassen 2014, 80) due to cultural products (‘weapons of
the weak’) that challenge the hegemony (Fabian 1998, 18). Popular culture can raise issues about
power, because it tends to challenge things that are affirmed about culture (Fabian 1998, 3).
Therefore, it can function as a form of resistance against dominant forces, (Fabian 1998, 18),
which can create individual freedom in an oppressive environment (Fabian 1998, 19). Soap
operas like this portray religious tradition with a more progressive take on it (Oosterbaan 2020).
Just like Butler’s study on the performativity of drag revealed the contingent nature of gender
(Klassen 2014, 80), the subversive performances in these operas can inspire women to
comprehend the contextual nature of notions like gender and political power. Thus, these
performances defy and reiterate (Klassen 2014, 80) and create awareness about the
constructedness of these notions (Klassen 2014, 91).
