[No. 2 Contents | JAST Homepage]

The Twentieth American Studies Seminar titled "1975-1995: Looking Backward" took place in Antalya on November 2-3, 1995. The seminar was co-sponsored by the United States Information Service and the American Studies Association of Turkey. After the welcoming speeches of David L. Arnett, counsellor for public affairs of the US Embassy in Ankara, and Gülriz Büken, president of the American Studies Association of Turkey, the keynote speaker of the seminar, Cecelia Tichi of Vanderbilt University, addressed the audience.

The keynote speech was titled: "Backward and Forward--American Studies at the Millenium." This provided a compact, insightful overview of the state American Studies found itself in America at the present. American Studies means studies of Walt Disney, Elvis Presley and Mickey Mouse, Tichi said. You now teach Moby Dick and rock'n roll together. What's more, as America has moved from exceptionalism and mono-identity to a state of polarization in which multiethnicity is opposing political power that is coupled with resistance to change, American Studies tends to trivialize the ethnic strife lived so intensely in real life, Tichi added.

This year's seminar was organized around eight basic issues each of which was approached by several speakers. Each unit constituted a panel, which first addressed the audience and consequently answered the questions coming from the floor. The eight panels were on international relations, cultural studies, media and the information technology, film study, poetry, the experimental novel, women novelists, and performing arts.

The initial plenary session ensuing the keynote speech was titled "The United States, Turkey and the World," chaired by Ersin Onulduran of Ankara University. The three speakers were Bruce Kuniholm of Koç University, who spoke on "The US and Turkey's Relationship in the Cold War and After"; Jonathan Soffer of Bilkent University, who spoke on "The Evolving Global Economy and America's Domestic Agenda in the 1970s and 80s"; and Ersin Onulduran himself, who spoke on "The New Shape of Politics and Security in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean."

The next panel focused on cultural studies. Chaired by Ayþe Kðrtunç of Ege University, this panel featured three speakers. The talk given by Sibel Irzðk of Bo¤aziçi University was titled "From Deconstruction to Cultural Studies: The Reign of Theory in the Literature Departments in the US," that of Meyda Ye¤eno¤lu of Middle East Technical University "Reflection on Cultural Studies in the United States," and that oÐIrem Balðir of Bilkent University "The Location of Cultural Studies: Rights, Polity and Nation."

Media and the information technology constituted the topics of the next two sessions. Nur Gökalp chaired the session at which Mahmut Mutman of Bilkent University spoke on "Television: Sign of Times in Contemporary America," and Clifford Endres of Baþkent University that at which Yurdakul Ceyhun of Middle East Technical University spoke on "The Information Technology."

This ended the sessions of the first day but not the program. A film screening was scheduled for the evening. Not surprizingly, it was the film version of a novel to be discussed the next day, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. The novel was defined as "science fiction," but the movie turned to be dystopia pure and simple.

The second day of the seminar started with another talk given by Cecelia Tichi, this time on "The Culture of Country Music." Chaired by Saadet Bozkurt of Baþkent University, this early session included country music singing by Pamela Brown of Columbia University.

The concurrent sessions were launched thereafter. The one on Film Studies was chaired by Gönül Uçele of Hacettepe University. Carl Buchanan of the International American University of Cyprus spoke on "The Horror/Science Fiction Film:Star Wars to Star Gate ." This was followed by Pete Remington of Ege University and Seçil Ergin of Dokuz Eylül University performing together on "A Socratic Dialogue on Thelma and Louise."

In the meantime, Yusuf Eradam of Ankara University chaired the panel on Poetry, which had two speakers. Seçkin Ergin of Ege University spoke on "Political Poetry in the Last Twenty Years: Poetry Re-Considered," and Peter Grieco of Bilkent University spoke on "Lyrical Poetry in the Age of Global Teleculture: Issues in Contemporary American Poetics."

The panel on the Experimental Novel was chaired by Oya Batum Menteþe of Hacettepe University. Zafer Aracagök of Bilkent University spoke on "Raymond Carver: An Author In-Between High and Low Culture," then Michael and Serpil Oppermann, of Dresdner Abendgymnasium and Hacettepe University respectively, talked, with the aid of audio-visual material, on "The Novel as Performance: The Example of Raymond Federman."

The panel on Women Novelists was chaired by Gönül Pultar of Bilkent University. It had three speakers. Sema Kormalð of Bilkent University spoke on "Feminist Genre Fiction: Utopias, Dystopias, and Science Fiction," and discussed, among others,The Handmaid's Tale . Lâle Demirtürk of Bilkent University spoke on "Controlling the Images of Black Womanhood: African-American Women's Novel in the 1970-1990s." The talk given by Semiramis Ya¤cio¤lu of Dokuz Eylül University was titled "Space is Political: Semiotic Mediation of Power Relations in Song of Solomon and Beloved.

The panel on Theater and Performing Arts was chaired by Oya Baþak of Bo¤aziçi University. Neclâ Çðkðgil of Middle East Technical University spoke on "Two Decades of Dance in America: Continuity vs. Experimentation." Aslð Tekinay of Bo¤aziçi University had a paper on "The Nihilism in Political Drama: Sam Shepard's States of Shock. Then, Tuna Ðncesulu and Ahmet Beþe of Ege University performed together in "Women in Society: A Sceneric Presentation of Women in Modern American Drama."

Apart from the eight clusters of formal presentations, the seminar addressed two issues directly related to the teaching of American Studies courses in Turkey. One issue, on the problems encountered in teaching, was taken up first at the roundtable discussion on "Teaching American Literature in Turkey" led by Meldan Tanrðsal of Hacettepe University, then in the paper following it: "Americans and English," delivered by Robert Lindsey of the Ankara USIS and chaired by Suat Karantay of Bo¤aziçi University. The other issue was the history of the American culture and literature departments and programs in Turkey. This was the topic of a panel discussion which ended the seminar. The panelists were Gülriz Büken of Bilkent University, president of the American Studies Association of Turkey, Nebile Direkçigil of Istanbul University, and William Jones, Cultural Officer of the US embassy in Ankara. Various speakers also took the floor to approach the topic.

For most participants, the seminar provided an opportunity to renew professional and social ties with colleagues and Americanists from all over Turkey. It constituted a setting for establishing new networks and nurturing old ones, as well as keeping in touch with various aspects of American culture.