Transnational melodramas and gendered resistance. The reception of Turkish soap operas by women in Greece

Abstract

Turkish soap operas propose an alternative modernity marked not only by tra-ditional family structures and gender roles but also by the social conservatism im-posed by the current government. Nevertheless, the soap operas in question are also under the pressure of representing social change, particularly as far as wom-en's rights are concerned. Through this article, the author aims to highlight the ways in which Greek women resist to the patriarchate through their decoding of these particular media texts. Based on the results of an audience ethnography, the author demonstrates that the resistance of meaning receivers is neither always op-positional to the media text, nor necessarily progressive.