State, Masculinity, and the Aestheticization of Violence

Abstract

Violence is a fundamental bio-sociological phenomenon. It can take many forms including psychological, emotional, economic, gender-based, religious, cultural, and political. The latter is primarily associated with the state. Historically, all states exercised violence in accordance with their law. Thus, law is the codification of violence. State and violence are also associated with masculinity, which is not fixed biological but rather a flexible sociological category. Masculinity is concretized in specific patterns of behaviors. In this perspective, the present study analyzes the famous Turkish TV Series, Behzat Ç: An Ankara Detective Story. It argues that since the Turkish law system could not function of its violence due to the struggles of various socio-political actors within the state, the protagonist, Behzat, aestheticizes and mimics state violence through his masculine performances. That is, state violence is materialized in the masculinity of Behzat who by resorting to violence brings the justice that the state fails to provide.