This thesis aimed to report on the qualitative research conducted which
identified the role played by international television soap operas in identity
formation and cultural change in relation to Kurdish women. Currently, Kurdish
women live in a cultural context where traditional values often conflict with
modern values when it comes to behaviour deemed appropriate for their
gender. Through the impact of international television soap operas, Kurdish
women come to identify themselves as being ¿traditional¿ while at the same time
they attempt to integrate non-traditional beliefs into their value system. This
study looked at the relationship between Kurdish women¿s exposure to
international television, soap operas and consumerism, as well as the problems
which they create in terms of non-Western women¿s identity formation. This
thesis has documented the lives and experiences of 21 female Kurdish
participants, aged between 18 and 40, through in-depth interviews and
observations.
The thesis assumes that the views recorded are representative of the
general viewpoint of viewers of the international soaps. Open-ended, in-depth
interviews about women were used to explore viewing habits and preferences
for various soaps. This thesis incorporates and expresses the ideas which were
recorded with regards to the accepted ¿typical¿ characteristics of men and
4
women ¿ it is these characteristics which play an important role in selfformation.
It became evident that these women had incorporated values from
the traditional Kurdish culture and the modern way of life. The Kurdish women
cannot be said to have a ¿modernist¿ outlook on gender-appropriate behaviour,
as they are still endemically entrenched in traditional Kurdistan worldviews.
The qualitative research analysed the level in which the soap operas act
as a kind of medium between the values of modernity and those of tradition.
This study, in addition, demonstrates the appeal that soap operas can have on
the norms, and other aspects, in the Kurdistan Region, and therefore illustrates
that the soaps have an active role as a mechanism of change in Kurdistan.
Thus, the research demonstrates the power of the soap operas and their effects
on the Kurdish people in this region. Furthermore, this research explored the
current media environment in the Kurdistan Region by reviewing the
dependency of Kurdish viewers, and the Kurdish television channels, on foreign
and imported television programmes into the region.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/5431 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Hamasaeed, Nazakat Hussain |
| Contributors | Roberts, Benjamin L., Goodall, Mark |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Bradford Media School, School of Computing, Informatics and Media |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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