Crossing borders through the screen: Turkish dramas and cosmopolitanism among Spanish audiences

This article investigates how Turkish dramas enable cosmopolitan dispositions and cosmopolitan identities within Spanish audiences, particularly the cosmopolitan identities expressed through banal cosmopolitanism and pop cosmopolitanism. Turkish dramas began airing on Spanish television in 2018, and despite Spain being a novel market with significant cultural, religious, and linguistic differences from Turkey, they quickly achieved nationwide popularity. In-depth interviews with Spanish viewers from different age groups and backgrounds, analyzed through the lens of cosmopolitanism, show that cosmopolitan dispositions were present for participants before and after Turkish dramas and suggest that curiosity and openness toward the otherness showcased in Turkish dramas play a central role in the reception process. Findings shed light on the transnational expansion of Turkish dramas in Europe and offer theoretical insights into audience motivations for watching foreign content, expanding the application of cosmopolitan concepts and revisiting cultural proximity and other proximity theories.