Abstract: In this study the mediator role of the Turkish magazine Hayat, in Turkey’s transition from orientation of European images to American ones was questioned. The issues of 1957 and 1958 were covered soon after the change of the magazine with the inspiration of American Life. This transition in the cultural life was discussed under the title of Turkish modernization, launched under Ottomans and continued under the Republic. From the beginning the main scope of the Turkish modernization was to be westernized. The visual images which were accepted as the marker of Americanization were categorized and discussed in accordance with their themes: Hollywood icons on the covers; Hollywood icons in the advertisements; News on America; News on Hollywood; Female sexuality; New /modern Turkish women. In accordance with the covered visual images, Americanization was discussed together with the concept of the “new woman”- a symbol of the American modernization with the specificity of the liberation of the female body in the public sphere. This specificity had been well represented by the Hollywood icons of the time.
Key words: Americanization; Turkish magazine Hayat; Visual Culture; 1950’s of Turkey; New Woman; Consumption; Female Sexuality; Hollywood Icons.
Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 14, October 2012, rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464