Standing on the Edge of the New Cognitive Mapping: “Ethos” (“Bir Başkadır”)

Abstract

The fact that the digital platforms in Turkey are a decisive force in content production (film and TV series) has enabled the production of freer and more creative content in a number of creative fields such as screenplay, narrative language, cinematography, costume/set design and acting in the context of TV series. The rules and pressures of the Turkish state agency RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) and the executives of traditional television channels have caused a tendency toward digital platforms in the audience. This article focuses on the Netflix series Ethos (Turkish title: Bir Başkadır), which aired in 2020. Within the framework of the concepts of nostalgia and cinematic mapping, the article aims to analyze Ethos’ political plane, references, characters, and also the social class/identity and lifestyles that the series gives voice to. While analyzing the hybrid narrative of the series, this paper attempts to reveal the cinematic mapping along with the characters, spatial representations, and values ​​that express them and will discuss how the concept of nostalgia works and functions as a tool providing such mapping. In this context, we read Ethos as a call for confrontation for the new cognitive map, especially at a time when the desire of people to coexist has been seriously damaged due to polarization between them as a result of the government strategies and belligerent policies of the last two decades. The series employs a nostalgic gaze through a hybrid narrative to construct the vanishing present.

Keywords

• ethos
• cinematic mapping
• nostalgia
• hybrid narrative
• digital platforms