Materializing Humor: Appropriation as Means of Symbolic Confrontation in the 2013 Protest in Turkey

Abstract

In the 2013 protests the protesters manifested their claims and emotions with a blend of humor and creativity. The protesters' visual expressions acted as a powerful communication tool that constructed a strong unity among the protesters. Along with other means of expression the protesters carried out the resistance to the artifacts that they created during the protest. They played with the real-life settings of the artifacts at hand and created new combinations and ways of using them to resist the authorities. Especially the artifacts which were created through the use of humor became an essential medium of symbolic confrontation. This article presents visual analysis focusing on the material and expressive aspects of the artifacts and how they served the protest.