The representation of people with disability in recent Turkish cinema

This study, which aims to determine how disabled individuals are represented in recent Turkish cinema, was initiated on the hypothesis that the handicapped are frequently portrayed within certain patterns. To this aim, various representational patterns established in previous literature such as "pitiable and pathetic, the object of violence, laughable, a burden" or their counterparts were sought within Turkish films. The first section of the literature review provides various definitions for disabilities, along with the various models that influenced the establishment of these definitions. This is followed by explanations for the concepts utilized in the analysis of the selected films such as story line, dramatic narrative, and character. Finally, research regarding the representation of disabled individuals conducted in Turkey and throughout the world is studied and the patterns of representation to be used in this study are portrayed. The following section provides the methodology of the study, with an explanation of the Narrative Analysis method along with the sample of the study, while the findings section provides the analysis of the films selected based on the patterns established from the literature in the field. During the sampling process, Turkish films were specifically chosen from the second half of the 1990's onwards as it has been determined to be notable for increased viewership of Turkish films, and the sample established consisted of Turkish films released between 1996 and 2013 that contained representations of disabilities. Keywords: Disability, Representation, Cinema, Stereotype