Overt vs. Covert Messages and Uses of Conflict Resolution Strategies in a TV Serial: Çocuklar Duymasın

Çocuklar Duymasın (Do Not Let Children Hear) is a long-standing soap opera in Turkey which uses overt/direct and covert/indirect messages within its episodes. Specifically, it uses conflict resolution strategies in the covert/indirect messages and, considering the importance of these kinds of messaging in TV serials, this study, through indepth interview with the scenarist and producer, Birol Güven, aims to explore the subject matter. This study also aims to examine the overt and covert messages, characters, topics and characters’ gender with the confines of Law No. 6112 and a Protocol enacted by the Turkish government for media services. Lastly, the study also demonstrates the use of conflict resolution strategies in the covert/indirect messages. The study adopts content analysis and critical discourse analysis in analyzing 20 episodes of Çocuklar Duymasın televised in 2010 on ATV, and in 2013 on Fox TV. Furthermore, the study depends on the Development Media Theory and Feminist Theory. The results obtained from content analysis confirm that characters state more overt/direct messages than covert/indirect messages in Çocuklar Duymasın due to the influence of the Law No. 6112 and the Protocol. The study also reveals that there are uses of conflict resolution strategies in the covert/indirect messages as discovered through critical discourse analysis. Conclusions drawn from this study reveals that Çocuklar Duymasın uses both overt/direct messages and conflict resolution strategies in the covert/indirect messages. Keywords: Çocuklar Duymasın, Content Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Development Media Theory, Feminist Theory.