II.Uluslararası İletişim Çalışmaları Kongresi Özet Kitapçığı: Popüler Kültür 2025

Abstract

It is a profound honor and privilege to present the Book of Abstracts of the II. International Communication Studies Congress, organized in partnership between Hacettepe University Faculty of Communication and İletişim Studies in 2025, to our academic community, researchers, and scholars worldwide. Following our initial call announced on September 9, 2025, a total of 116 abstract submissions were submitted, culminating in 59 accepted papers following a rigorous review process conducted by our Scientific Committee. Across the 3-day event,nearly 60 researchers from 33 different universities convened to share their research on popular culture. In-person sessions took place at the Faculty's Mehmet Akif Ersoy Hall and Hall K, hosting 4 keynotes and presenting 44 papers across 17 distinct sessions. In line with our Faculty's core mission, the congress was structured around the central theme of “Popular Culture and the Zeitgeist”. Historically and etymologically rooted in "that which belongs to the people"—such as urban legends, folktales, jokes, minstrels, and everyday gossip—popular culture has evolved into a fluid and transient phenomenon mediated by mass media, new media, and internet technologies. Expressed through iconic series catchphrases, TikTok dances, global cinematic universes, YouTubers, and influencer culture, this phenomenon shapes not only modes of entertainment, but also social relationships, political imaginations, and collective dreams of the future. Once struggling for academic legitimacy in its early years, popular culture has transformed into a fully legitimate field of study owing to the interdisciplinary strength of communication sciences. On this occasion, we respectfully honor the theoretical legacy of pioneering Turkish scholars such as Ahmet Oktay (1933-2016), Ünsal Oskay (1939-2009), and Erol Mutlu (1949-2005), who examined popular culture through political-economic critiques of commodification and encirclement while exploring the possibilities of "producing a better popular culture". The presentations across congress sessions addressed the transient and fluid nature of popular culture under multilayered thematic axes: • Digital Subcultures, Identity, and Discourse: Researches critically addressed the digitalization of aesthetic taste in Dark Academia, traditional domestic sociology in the "tradwife" movement, masculinity crises in Instagram's Red Pill discourse, alt-right anti-intellectualism in "PhD tayfa" and "foncu" online debates, vegan stigma constructed via Reddit memes, and infantilization in adult animation within kidult culture. • Artificial Intelligence, Digital Memory, and Nostalgia: Papers thoroughly evaluated generative AI in cinematic narrative and visual aesthetics, synthetic and artificial nostalgia constructed via 1970s Turkey AI videos, algorithmic homogenization in CGI influencer Lil Miquela based on Stuart Hall, Boym's reflective/restorative nostalgia applied to TRT Nostalji on YouTube, and cyclical nostalgia in the Manifest-Winx collaboration. • Media Representations, Gender Politics: Critical interrogations focused on femvertising and the female image in advertising, the "incompetent male" archetype and "weaponized incompetence" in commercials, female representations in Netflix Turkey productions, biopics in Turkish cinema, gender-asymmetric panic attack representations in post-2000 TV series, and body art politics through ORLAN, Marina Abramović, and Stelarc. • Activism, Public Spheres, and Social Responsibility: Sessions interrogated affective publics shaped around #FreePalestine on TikTok, memory activism in the 'To Gaza, With Love' collective animation project, comparative discourse analysis of the Gaza Genocide in Turkish and Western alternative media, protest masks (V for Vendetta, La Casa de Papel/Dali), and corporate greenwashing/deepfake practices in the energy sector. • New Media Spheres, Popular Practices, and Urban Space: Empirical insights illuminated e-sports bibliometrics (2015-2025), museum reconstruction of popular culture in "The Art of James Cameron" exhibition, platform dramaturgy in Grand Theft Hamlet, left-wing nostalgia in Istanbul's türkü bars, and the semi-religious representations of digital influencers. The international dimension of our congress was reinforced by Scientific Committee members affiliated with prestigious institutions across Türkiye as well as global universities in Germany (e.g., HS Niederrhein, Hochschule für Künste Bremen), the UK (e.g., Goldsmiths University of London, University of Nottingham), the USA (e.g., University of California), Canada (e.g., Ontario Tech University), and Australia.I firmly believe that this rich academic collection will provide significant momentum for future research in digital media, cultural studies, and communication sciences, serving as a guiding framework for upcoming interdisciplinary endeavors. I extend my deepest gratitude to the members of our Organizing and Scientific Committees and all contributing researchers whose academic efforts enriched this publication.