Interpreting Street Interviews on Turkish Economy through Nietzsche’s Concept of Ressentiment

OpenAlex English

Beginning in 2018 and climaxing by the end of 2021, economic problems in Türkiye have been a significant subject matter of the country. Hence, taking a great deal of attention, street interviews broadcasted on YouTube have concentrated on the Turkish economy. They have showed that the great majority of Turkish citizens complain about the way Turkish economy is. However, disagreeing and going against the majority, with their similar tendencies, opinions, and reactions, a number of interviewees who personally state that they are from low-income groups and supporters of Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) tend to bend the fact about the Turkish economy as they not only present their own economic circumstances better than they actually are but also reject the existence of the economic distress the country has been going through even though it is admitted by the state authorities. As an answer to such a contradiction, this study suggests that it could be explained through the theoretical framework of Nietzschean concept of ressentiment and concentrates on victimization, polarization, revaluation, blaming others for failures, and glorification of sufferings which are both the essential ingredients of the ressentiment and tangible issues in the street interviews. In line with this purpose, it, first, presents the way Turkish economy has been and the ressentiment triggering discourses of the state authorities. Then, in order to have a first-hand information about both the interviews and the interviewees, it conducts a semi-structured interview with Mehmet Koyuncu-the interviewer of a popular YouTube channel called Sade Vatandaş (Ordinary Citizen)-exemplifying the subject by analyzing the responses of the interviewees.