Melodrama in Turkish cinema and its transformation after the year 1990

The purpose of this study is to examine the economic?political and cultural process in which Yeşilçam melodramas occur, types of narrative codes and the way that are presented and transformation process that these codes go through in 1990?s by taking into account the conceptual attribution of the melodrama as a genre.To this end, in the first part of this study, the definition and the arise of the melodrama, and the properties of this genre are discussed. Whereas, in the second part, the appearance of melodrama in Turkish cinema and economic?political and cultural processes that give rise to this genre and narrative codes of Yeşilçam melodramas are explained. In the third part, the films Unsent Letters, Suna, and Woman of my Life are examined through codes of melodrama.At the end of the study, it is observed that after 1990?s in Turkish cinema melodrama has not been considered as one genre alone although some of the main codes related to this genre are stil identified. Many Yeşilçam melodrama codes such as fictious use of time and place, superficial narration based on contrasts, prototype characters, glorification of the family have gone through certain transformation. However, it has been seen that some of the main codes like ?endless love, misunderstandings, moral world set on good and bad, reflection of feelings through songs, man as the symbol of honesty and bravery? protect its entity. To conclude, as of 1990 melodrama does not appear as single genre alone, but integrates into other genres conserving some of its main codes. Within this context, this study can be considered as an important opportunity to evaluate the present day influence of melodrama which was once a successful genre in Turkish cinema.Key Words:1. Melodrama2. Codes of melodrama3. Melodramatic elements after 1990