Wonderland Eurasia: Theme Parks and Neo-Ottoman Identity Politics in Ankara, Turkey

Authors

  • Tanfer Emin Tunc Hacettepe University, Anakara, Turkey
  • Gokhan Tunc Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

With an area of 1.3 km2 or 320 acres, Wonderland Eurasia, which is located in Ankara, Turkey, has been advertised as the largest theme park in Europe and Asia. Almost a decade in the making, it was completed in 2019 at a cost of approximately $250 to $350 million USD (1.5 to 2 billion Turkish Lira) and is seen by supporters as having the potential to boost the sagging tourism industry. This study, which is based on a July 2019 site visit to the theme park, will illustrate, however, that Wonderland Eurasia is much more complicated than appearances suggest. The authors argue that by deploying the imperial glory of the Ottoman Empire, the park constructs an artificial narrative of continuity that connects the past (through Seljuk and even prehistoric themes), to the present, and future (through robotic themes). This is not only meant to symbolically reinforce Turkey’s position as a regional ‘wonderland’—a social, economic, and cultural powerhouse with grand foreign policy aspirations—but in the process, is also designed to promote a neoliberal Neo-Ottomanism that involves an identity politics of historical elision and selective erasure. Tanfer Emin Tunc is a Professor in the Department of American Culture and Literature at Hacettepe University in Ankara. Gokhan Tunc is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. Of Civil Engineering at the Atilim University in Ankara. 

Author Biographies

Tanfer Emin Tunc, Hacettepe University, Anakara, Turkey

Tanfer Emin Tunc is a Professor in the Department of American Culture and Literature at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. She holds a PhD in American History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and specializes in women’s and gender studies, American social/cultural history, and transnational American studies. She is the co-editor of seven books, and author of two books and numerous book chapters, book reviews, reference book entries, and journal articles, most of which have appeared in internationally-renowned SSCI/AHCI journals such as Rethinking History, Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, Women’s History Review, War in History, Cold War History, and Journal of Women’s History. She is currently the Vice President of the American Studies Association of Turkey and a Board Member of the European Association for American Studies. 

Gokhan Tunc, Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey

Assistant Professor, Dept. Of Civil Engineering, Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey

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Published

2021-02-16

How to Cite

Tunc, T. E., & Tunc, G. (2021). Wonderland Eurasia: Theme Parks and Neo-Ottoman Identity Politics in Ankara, Turkey. Popular Entertainment Studies, 11(1-2), 93–113. Retrieved from https://novaojs.newcastle.edu.au/kulumun/index.php/pes/article/view/229

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1-2 (2020)

Section

Articles

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