The Dubious Case of a Failed Coup

Book excerpt: This volume is an attempt to contextualise the coup attempt of 15 July 2016 in Turkey, within the framework of militarism and masculinities. The immediate aftermath of the 15 July in Turkey witnessed confusion, contestation and negotiation among different narratives, until a hegemonic version was superimposed on the collective memory as part of official history building. This project is an attempt to bring a fresh and critical perspective by compiling together analyses from various disciplines of political science, media and film studies, literature, sociology and cultural studies. Several chapters of this volume delineate the paradox of “victorious militarism,” meaning that despite the failure of the coup, its aftermath has been shaped by a new wave of state-sponsored gendered militarism, with the establishment of a regime of “state of emergency.”