A reading practice as the consumption of leisure time: Hayat magazine 1980-1986

Abstract

This study strives to shed light on the socio-cultural transformations of a period, the 1980s. This decade, for Turkey, is evaluated throughout the thesis as a new break incontinuity rather than a total differentiation. Because, even though there were constant transformations beginning in the 1950s towards "consumption society," consumption patterns and leisure activities were evolved into cultural practices by permeating the everyday life through multiple media channels in the 1980s. Since reading practice was a widespread leisure activity and Hayat was one of the most well-known weekly news periodicals, the issues of this magazine published in the post-1980 is decoded within the thesis in order to get an understanding of two points: one is the changing assessment of leisure time and the other is the role attributed to media. Therefore, throughout the thesis the historical period the thesis deals with is discussed by considering the interaction between two points.