Paper short abstract:

The paper aims to answer the question of whether the movement of Turkish drama series across the Arab world contributes to the development of a shared sense of unity within the Arab world in the eyes of Moroccan women.

Paper long abstract:

Regionalization and transnational identity of the Arab television

industry has enabled the popularity of Arab drama series. In the last

decade, the Arab audiences that were used of being exposed to culturally

specific content that addressed their regional identities, have been

increasingly exposed to Turkish drama series, which were introduced to

the region under the assumption of cultural proximity. This cultural

proximity relates to shared Islamic practices, historical experiences,

as well as social aspects, for example the context of arranged

marriages, respect for elders and big families living together. Arab

audiences are increasingly exposed to stories, where the main heroines

are beautiful, career-oriented and sexually aware women. Such exposure

in turn results in the emergence of a battlefield in the Arab world

between the televised representation of emancipated women and the

condemnation by Arab religious/political conservative leaders.

The paper deals with the influence of the political, social and cultural

realities, portrayed in Turkish drama series, broadcasted in the Arab

media, on the construction of the identity of Arab women. Based on

extensive ethnographic fieldwork, carried out in 2013 in Morocco, I deal

with the question of whether the movement of Turkish drama series across

the Arab world contributes to the development of a shared sense of

unity. On the one hand the series are seen as a bridge between both

shores of the Mediterranean, on the other hand the cultural distance is

recreated within each episode as the Turkish way of life is perceived to

be more 'European' than 'Arab'.