Sachin Sukumar
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Mentor(s): Swapnil Rai
Research Mentor School/College/Department: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor / LSA
Program: CG
Session: Session 6 (3:40pm – 4:30pm)
Authors:
Abstract
Theories on democratic degradation have risen in popularity over the past few decades, with a plethora of literature heavily focusing on the Western and South American parts of the world. However, regardless of this nuanced progress, many worthwhile parts of the world remain understudied in the global south. Specifically, this research attempts to study the rise of cross-cultural lateral televisual trends between India and Turkey that can be attributed to the right wing authoritarian tendencies of both nations still functioning as facadeful democracies through the weaponization of religion. This televisual study supplements other democratic decay studies that prioritize studying the decline of institutional political factors by giving a distinct methodological metric in the entertainment industry. Such an examination will be coherently performed through surveys, expert interviews, discussion forums analysis, and potential focus group work to enhance the empirical specificity of our findings. I hypothesize that the analysis will show that the Indian public sympathize with the decision making of Turkish characters and resonate with atleast part of the cultural perspective and political messages of Muslim Turkey even as a predominately Hindu nation due to the emphasis on religion. Such findings would empirically support the hunch of rising cross-cultural televisual trends between the two nations evolving as non-secular authoritarian democracies. Beyond helping study the democratic backsliding of the Eastern world, this investigation can also aid the entertainment industry of both nations in helping pick the kinds of political messaging soap operas that would thrive as commercial successes.
