Value Priority and Humor as a Defense to Cultural Schism: Analysis of Istanbul Gezi Park Protest

Sermin Tekinalp

Abstract


The Istanbul Gezi Park protest started as an environmentalist action at Taksim against the uprooting of the park’s trees for the replacement of the military barracks that were demolished in 1940, and it turned into an uprising against the government after a police attack. This article turns the spotlight on a unique protest in the context of the protestors’ value priority preferences and the humor they used as a defense to cultural schism. It investigates the protestors’ cognitive mental frames, cultural and ideological positions, their demands for self-actualization and more freedom, and the changing methods of protest against the authority within the context of value change hypothesis and humor theories.

 


Keywords


Istanbul Gezi Protest, value priority, humor, critical discourse analysis

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