Family Representation in Contemporary Turkish Cinema: A Longitudinal Corpus Analysis, 1996–2024

ABSTRACT Family has long occupied a central place in contemporary cinema in Turkey, yet existing scholarship has largely examined its representation through close readings of selected films or specific themes. This article adopts a different perspective by analyzing family representations across a longitudinal corpus of 850 films produced between 1996 and 2024. Combining qualitative content analysis with interpretive analysis, it treats films as a visual archive through which changing understandings of the family can be examined in relation to broader social transformations. Using a systematic coding framework, the study analyzes family structures, interpersonal relations, authority, conflict, gender roles, and narrative outcomes. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's conceptualization of the family as a socially constructed institution and adapting Lyman Tower Sargent's distinction between utopian and dystopian imaginaries, the article distinguishes between utopian and dystopian modes of family representation. The findings reveal a persistent tension between critique and preservation. Although families are more frequently represented as sites of conflict, inequality, and dysfunction than as harmonious social units, narratives rarely allow them to dissolve completely. Instead, conflicts are commonly resolved by preserving or reconstituting the family, reaffirming its symbolic legitimacy despite exposing its internal contradictions. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the value of qualitative content analysis for investigating long‐term transformations in cinematic representation through large‐scale longitudinal film corpora.