The reflection of house slavery in Ottoman Empire on the Turkish film and television productions: An analysis of the "mammy" figure through cultural studies paradigm

Like many civilizations, slavery has also existed in Ottoman Empire. Especially in the 19th century, the slaves that Ottomans demanded the most were African women used for house slavery. After the abolition of slavery, these servants continued to stay in the houses they served with similar tasks and names. This is the reason why "mammy" figure is used so often in the representation of racial difference in Turkish literature and visual arts. Mammy figure, which combines racial difference and slavery practices, gains importance in the study of the representation of racial difference in Turkish culture. In this study, first, a brief history of the Ottoman slavery and reflections of slavery on the field of art and media are mentioned. Then, the literature on cultural studies and Stuart Hall's work on representation, racial difference and otherness are summarized. During the sampling process, 41 Turkish films and 26 episodes of a television show in which Dursune Şirin and Tevfik Gelenbe, two actors who played "Mammy" roles the most times, are selected and analyzed using research questions with narrative analysis and discourse analysis methods. The purpose of this study is to analyze the "mammy" figure in Turkish film and television productions as a socially structured cultural text and also produce a qualitative discussion of the issue within the context of representation, race and difference.