The representations of family and gender as a consensus narrative in the film aile arasında

Abstract

Aile Arasında(Among the Family) is a mainstream production directed by Ozan Açıktan and written by Gülse Birsel. It came to the theaters in 2007 and was suc- cessful in the box office While Gülse Birsel, who is also the screenwriter of sit-com series such asAvrupa Yakası(2004–2009),Yalan Dünya(2012–2014) andJet Sosyete(2018– 2020) is quick to produce content that reflects the social reflexes, she also plays with and expands the current borders of many codes pertaining to issues such as subject, gender roles, and family in these shows. In the contemporary neoliberal social setting, family institution in Turkey and gender roles, which cannot be considered separately from this institution, are in a state of change. The discourse of the film questions the traditional family structure in Turkey and the masculine & feminine identities that are shaped in accordance with this family type. This study examines how this film problematizes the heteronormative gender roles in Turkey in terms of family institution and the kind of preferences it made while reconstructing the representations of family. Algirdas Julien Greimas’s Semiotic Square Model is used in order to analyze the narrational codes and representations in the film. This study aims to reveal and discuss the narrative elements that make the consensus narrative possible through the family and gender representations highlighted inAile Arasında.