"Black, not grey : Ankara rocks!" : a creative practice-based investigation of the Ankara rock music scene of the 1980s and the 1990s through documentary filmmaking

Onen, U

Abstract

Ankara, with its population of nearly 4.5 million, is the second largest city in Turkey after İstanbul. İstanbul is widely accepted as the centre of trade, finance, business, art and entertainment, whereas Ankara, being the capital city, is usually associated with politics only. Due to its weather and the vast number of government buildings, Ankara is deemed to be 'grey' and considered as 'lifeless', 'soulless' and 'dull' by some people. Although labelled as a 'city of politics', a 'grey city' or a 'grey city of politics', Ankara has a substantial influence on the Turkish popular music culture, which is an outcome of a strong rock music scene in Ankara, especially in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.

This research project is composed of two components: audiovisual and written. The audiovisual component is the feature length documentary, titled Black, Not Grey: Ankara Rocks!, which investigates the Ankara rock music scene, and the relationship between the city and rock music, in the above-mentioned period in Ankara. This occurs through personal recollections and narratives, first-hand experiences and collective memories of rock musicians and related persons. The documentary draws on traditions of ethnographic filmmaking practices. The written component is the PhD dissertation which questions and discusses the form and the narrative style of the practical outcome of this research project, the documentary, that serves as a record of a music scene in a particular and significant period in Turkey's history.

Citation

Onen, U. (in press). "Black, not grey : Ankara rocks!" : a creative practice-based investigation of the Ankara rock music scene of the 1980s and the 1990s through documentary filmmaking. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Acceptance Date: Nov 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 31, 2018