Women’s Language Used in Advertisement Musics: A Sample of Nil Karaibrahimgil
Nilay Tan ÇakırThe subject of this study is determined based on the idea of Luce Irigaray, one of the French Feminist theorists, who stipulated that women should form their own language. According to Irigaray, men do not rule the world together with women as subjects with gender who have equal rights. For this reason, she argues that the feminine species can be rendered valuable by a language transformation. The aim of this study is to discuss the prospect of Irigaray’s philosophical quest concerning women’s language and to present some examples within this context. Advertising films reflecting the social structure of the country were seen as a tool for the necessary language transformation and formed the sampling area of this study. Within the scope of this study, some of Nil Karaibrahimgil’s commercial songs were examined in line with Irigaray’s thoughts.
These commercial songs were determined using criterion sampling method. The paradigms that form the basis of qualitative research approach have been accepted. Semiology was used in data analysis. The findings showed that in lyrics with women saying only what belongs to them, valuing feminine species and that lead to a language transformation were present.
Reklam Müziklerinde Kullanılan Kadın Dili: Nil Karaibrahimgil Örneği
Nilay Tan ÇakırBu çalışmanın konusu Fransız Feminist kuramcılardan biri olan Luce Irigaray’ın kadınların kendilerine ait bir dil oluşturmaları gerektiği düşüncesinden yola çıkarak belirlenmiştir. Kadın ve dil konusu genel olarak iki alanda ele alınmaktadır. Bunlardan ilki kadın hakkında kullanılan, yani kadını tanımlarken ve tasvir ederken kullanılan dildir. Diğeri ise kadının kullandığı dildir. Irigaray, kadınların kendilerine ait bir dil oluşturmak zorunda olduklarını ileri sürmektedir. Çünkü ona göre erkekler ve kadınlar eşit haklara sahip olarak dünyayı beraber yönetmemektedirler. Bu nedenle ancak bir dil dönüşümü ile dişil türün değerli kılınabileceğini savunmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı; Irigaray’ın kadın diline ait felsefi arayışının olanaklılığını tartışmak ve bu konuda bazı örnekler sunmaktır. İçinde bulunduğu ülkenin toplumsal yapısını yansıtan reklam filmleri, gereken dil dönüşümü için bir araç olarak görülmüş ve bu çalışmanın örneklem alanını oluşturmuştur. Bu çalışma kapsamında Nil Karaibrahimgil’in bazı reklam şarkıları Irigaray’ın düşünceleri doğrultusunda incelenmiştir. Bu reklam şarkıları amaçlı örneklem yöntemlerinden ölçüt örneklem kullanılarak belirlenmiştir. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yaklaşımının temelini oluşturan paradigmalar kabullenilmiştir. Veri analizinde göstergebilim kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgularda; bir ötekine ihtiyaç duymadan kadının yalnızca kendisine ait olanı söylediği, dişil türün değerli kılındığı ve bir dil dönüşümü yaratan reklam şarkı sözlerine rastlanmıştır..
We can say that there is a mutual interaction between language and gender. According to Aydınoğlu, the issue of gender and language should be examined in two different areas: the language used by women and the language about women. Language is a reflection of society and it is one of the most important elements of culture. The indicator of every fact that exists in culture is found within the language. Therefore, giving different roles to men and women in society and power imbalances between the sexes have differentiated the language used by men and women. There are also differences between the language used when talking about men and women. The relationships between gender and language have attracted the attention of linguists who had a feminist perspective in language studies since the 1970s. Studies have varied greatly since Robin Lakoff, one of the first to work on this subject (Aydınoğlu, 2015, p.218). When we look at the studies that form the basis for the language used by women, the view that “the language used by women constitutes her identity” criticizes the earlier views that have been studied on this subject. With this approach, women’s language studies have been brought to discourse level and the how gender is formed through language has started to be discussed (as cited in Aydınoğlu, 2015, p. 177).
In this work, the views of French feminist theorists, especially those of Luce Irigararay, on gender and language form the conceptual framework. Irigaray asserts that women have to create a language for themselves. She makes a significant distinction between speaking like a woman and speaking as a woman. Speaking as a woman is not only psychological but also social (Sarup, 2017, p. 176). Irigaray says that discourses have gender (Irigaray, 2006, p. 30). According to her, the differences between the discourses of men and women were the result of the effects of both language and society. She argues that we cannot change the society without changing the language and we cannot change the language without changing the society (Irigaray, 2006, p. 32). According to Irigaray, men do not rule the world together with women with equal rights. This is only possible with a language transformation and can be achieved by valuing the feminine species. The way women are emancipated is not by “becoming men” or by being jealous of men’s organs and objects. Irigaray considers it necessary to be a free feminine subject. Language represents the means of production necessary for this emancipation (Irigaray, 2006, pp. 73-75). Woman will remain doomed to be named and positioned unless she can develop what is her own. According to Irigaray, in order to break this conviction, women should speak and say what belongs to them. They need to find ways to ‘speak like a woman’ in this context. ‘Speaking like a woman’ is a speaking that does not need the presence of one ‘outsider’ or another individual (as cited in Aslantürk & Turgut, 2015, p. 55).
Commercial films, which reflect the social structure of the country, were seen as a tool for the necessary language transformation and formed the sampling area of this study. Within the scope of this study, some commercial songs of Nil Karaibrahimgil were examined in line with Irigaray’s thoughts. These commercial songs were determined by using criterion sampling, which is an intended sampling method.
The aim of this study is to discuss the prospect of Irigaray’s philosophical quest concerning women’s language and to present some examples within this context. In the study, paradigms that form the basis of the qualitative research approach were accepted. Semiotics techniques were used in data analysis. In particular, Barthes’s three-level commercial analysis was taken into account.
The findings showed that in lyrics with women saying only what belongs to them, valuing feminine species and that lead to a language transformation were present. When we look at commercial films both visually and linguistically, the strong female image that is attached to the main character is ensured by making the feminine species valuable, as Irigaray said. According to her, the path to emancipation of women is through the glorification of the sexes of feminine subjects and the linguistic species to which they belong. The language used by Nil Karaibrahimgil in these songs represents the means of production necessary for this emancipation. For example, lyrics like “I have both my ways, my words, and my eyes that speak, I am free.” does not reflect a similarity to being masculine but shows that women have their own words, objects, decisions and are free to act in this direction, in short, they can be like themselves.
