Documentaries as Cultural Diplomacy: TRT Documentary's Discourses on Hagia Sophia

Abstract

In this study, the contribution of the discourses of cultural documentaries, which are used as an international image and reputation management tool, to cultural diplomacy is discussed. The research discussed the Mysterious documentary History: Hagia Sophia, which was selected by random sampling method among the shares of TRT Documentary Youtube channel, in terms of the cultural documentary. The study is essential in determining the discourses of TRT Documentary, which contributes to cultural documentarian towards cultural diplomacy. In addition, the study is essential in that it is the first study to analyze the documentaries on Hagia Sophia that contribute to cultural diplomacy and contributes to the literature in this respect. The Hagia Sophia documentary was analyzed in the Maxqda program using Van Dijk's critical discourse analysis and content analysis method. The findings obtained in this context are as follows: In the documentary Hagia Sophia, the discourse has been developed over the temple's history, its architectural features, and the mysteries it contains. These discourses are rhetorically strengthened using techniques of arousing curiosity and presenting scientific evidence. The documentary contributes to cultural diplomacy by examining the architectural features, history, and mysteries of Hagia Sophia with religious, artistic, and scientific methods. The scientific techniques used in this cultural documentary, which contributes to cultural diplomacy, contribute to the international image and reputation.