Bayram FM: From Popular Culture to Culture Industry
Popüler Kültürden Kültür Endüstrisine Bayram FM

Author : -Köksal PEKDEMİR
Number of pages : 152-186

Abstract

Culture with very different fragments is the second nature that is dressed to man. As people socialize, they adopt cultural elements and adapt to life. In this study, an examination is made on radio which is one of the means of creating and spreading popular culture. The relationship between the presenters and listeners of Bayram FM, which is a radio channel that makes religious broadcasts/programs, has been tried to be revealed. In the study, it is sought to answer the question “do the presenters have a hegemonic power based on consent on radio listeners, and if so, what role does religion play in the formation of this consent?” In the research, instead of the concept of “popular culture, which takes the subject more into consideration and allows the perpetrator to resist or to make conscious choices, the definition of “culture industry” which refers to the conversion of cultural elements to profit-making commodities and the passive positions of the masses against these products, was preferred and Gramsci’s concept of hegemony was used in the context of the critical school. The presence of hegemony is questioned through the language used in the advertisements and presenter-listener dialogues broadcasted in Bayram FM. This is a micro-field study which adopts an ideographical approach methodologically and is based on an anti-positivist epistemological ground. The method of the research is content analysis. Six different advertisements and twenty-five presenter-listener dialogues in Bayram FM were examined. As a result of the data obtained, it was concluded that Bayram FM had a hegemonic power over the audience and that the sovereignty was occurred within the framework of consent. In addition, it was ascertained that Bayram FM was to be one of the producers of the culture industry and converted religious-cultural elements into commodities for profit.

Keywords

Sociology of Religion, Popular Culture, Culture Industry, Religion, Bayram FM, Gramsci, Hegemony.

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