The project posits TV Series in a comparative perspective using both Dominique Moïsi’s geopolitics and Bertrand Westphal’s geocriticism. Serbia and Turkey with shared geographies and histories and culture in the Balkans will be approached in this study on the basis of the emotions embedded in TV series, and the referentiality to real and imaginary places that were read through them. Geopolitics of the Balkan region and geopolitical relations of Serbia and Turkey amply sustain the concept. The project will be the first comparative research on TV series in Serbia and Turkey.

Project Duration: 24 Months

Partners involved in the project

Summary of the project

TV Series: A comparative study from geopolitics to geocriticism: Serbia and Turkey” is focused on the comparative analysis of the TV series in Turkey and Serbia as exemplified by the carefully chosen paradigmatic case studies of four genre pairs and the outstanding titles of the 21st. century, beginning with the notion of geopolitics of the TV series *(Moïsi, 2018). The project aims to end with a breakthrough making visible the geocriticism of the TV series. Geocriticism as the coined term allows us to define specificities of the Moïsi’s TV series through a mapped out and established system of geo(political) critique. Geopolitics of the Balkan region and geopolitical relations of Serbia and Turkey amply sustain the concept.

Section 1: Scientific/Technological Excellence

1.1  Aims and Objectives of the Project

• The project aims to run a comparative perspective study on the geopolitics of the TV series in Serbia and Turkey. The national imaginary and cultural imagination that is constructed, changed and transferred through the drama contents in both countries and its reception; the national and transnational identities, representation of the past and the everyday life; in general, how the geopolitics of TV series work articulated in the emerging notion of geocriticism (Maoz Azaryanh & Kenneth E. Foote: 2008; Westphal 2011; M.L. Ryan: 2012). Geocriticism will solve the problem of the project by how real spaces such as Belgrade and Istanbul with all their richness of everyday life are literally and metaphorically translated into the space of fiction TV series.

2.1  Scientific Quality, Innovation Potential and Contribution

• The project is a first and unique attempt to conduct research on the geopolitics of the Serbian and Turkish TV series through geocriticism, Rewriting the history and conceptualizing an everyday life that influences the cultural proximity and mutual understanding compared to the past through the series.

Section 2: Methodology

• Literature survey
• Comparative media analysis
• FOCUS GROUPS WEEK in Istanbul: Research Teams and student of Serbia and Turkey
• The focus groups with the Serbian students will be organised in Belgrade (due to budgetary restrictions)
• The outcome of the focus groups will be analysed in a comparative way

Section 3: Project Management