Victims, Villains and Guardian Angels – Batman suicide stories

Abstract

The following article is a part of a larger research project, which sought to expose the discursive construction of the Turkish nation through an analysis of selected case studies from the mainstream Turkish press. These case studies all shared a common aspect – not only were they all news stories about women, but they also sparked up heated debates on the meanings of modernity and national identity through women in Turkey. Among these, however, the media coverage of unprecedented rate of suicides among women in Batman in Turkey remains aside as the saddest and darkest case study. Leaving aside its distressing content, what adds to the bleakness of the stories is undeniably the plot: journalists working in the big cities for mainstream newspapers sketch a region for the readers which, at best, can be considered as the peripheries of Turkey. Through the analysis of the data, this case study not only offers us the perfect chance to glimpse at the tension between the centre and the periphery in the construction of national boundaries, but also highlights the role of women in that construction process.

Keywords

• difference
• nation
• identity
• discourse
• women
• gender