An evaluation of relationship between spatial perception and social changes, and mass media: Example of 1980s newspaper advertisements

Humans and time gives space a meaning and turns it into a mental construct, and this creates a spatial perception. Spatial perception can be established or mutated by many factors. One of the main factors that affect spatial perception are social changes. Society has always been subject to changes over time due to changes in politics, economy, culture, and technology. The Industrial Revolution, one the most important changes in recent history, was significant in creating modern society and modern spaces. It can be said that spatial perception was shaped by the consumpion culture created after these changes. Mass media, a part of consumption culture, also took an important role in shaping spatial perception. 1980s were selected fort his study do it being times where Turkish society adopted consumption culture, and reconstructed itself with modernism. This study tries to evaluate a relationship between spatial perception and social changes using newspaper advertisements from the 1980s Turkish media. The study focuses on two newspapers and scans space related elements from the advertisements to try and read 1980s spatial perception using Marxist and sociological analysis techniques. Keywords: Spatial perception, Social change, Modern society, Consumption culture, Newspaper advertisements