Seeing War: The Visual Representations of the Korean War in Turkish Media

Abstract

This chapter studies the visual representations of the Korean War by focusing on photographs and political cartoons published by the Turkish media, as well as commercial films produced throughout the war and immediately after its conclusion. The analysis of visual representations allows us to try and understand how the large illiterate public experienced the war, and how visual means were employed to either support or criticize Turkey’s involvement in it. The analysis presented in this chapter of the photographs used by the Turkish press suggests that those reflected the press’s official support of the war. Additionally, the examination of Turkish political cartoons during the war suggests that cartoons reflected an extremely negative view of NATO’s European member states, an organization which Turkey was trying to join. This chapter also complements Chap. 4, by examining similar questions in visual sources such as the representation of the Turks, their allies, and enemies in cartoons.