Marshall Plan Films In/About Turkey (1948-1952): Birth and Development of “Development Discourse” in Turkey

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Communication History Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Since its implementation the Marshall Plan (MP) has become a model or rhetorical device for exhorting planned external intervention elsewhere, to do what the MP is alleged to have done so ‘successfully’ for Western Europe after the crisis of World War II. Respectively, MP communication campaign in general, and MP films in particular frequently have been hailed to ‘sell Europeans on’ democracy, shared economic goals and the hope of a new, peaceful Europe built on the ashes of the ruined old one. However, it is impossible to talk any of these two aspects, when it comes to the Turkish case.
Although not involved in WW2, Turkey was one of the countries, which not only benefited from Marshall Aid, but also became the audience/theme of some Marshall Films, such as Yusuf and his Plough (1951), The Village Tractor (1951) and Turkish Harvest (1952). Predominantly illustrating the transformation of the “backward” conditions under which Turkish urban-people live, to a “productive and normalized” social environment thanks to Marshall Aid, these movies, as well provide with valuable insights about the regimes of representation that place Turkey into a certain discourse, namely development. Since then, development discourse has historically been such a dominating one in the country, in economical, political, social and cultural spheres.
In this paper, the images of Turkey as they reflect on the representations Marshall Plan planners and experts utilized as they design and carry out their program is analyzed in detail to show the connection between the creation of visibility in discourse, and the exercise of power. The study of employed communication techniques, namely The Marshall Movies about Turkey, problematizes the birth and development of “development discourse” in Turkey, the mechanisms and institutions that were agents in making of development discourse, and, the kind of subjectivity it fostered on Turkish people.

Author

• Altug Akin, Izmir University of Economics