The Roots of Protest Music in Turkey in the 1960s: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Anatolian Pop

It has been widely recognized that a simple, unilateral interpretation of musical phenomena is insufficient. This recognition, in turn, has triggered the search for new methods to improve interdisciplinary approaches. In this context, the question of how to develop the field of music sociology is much debated. In addition, this has also necessitated the interweaving of sociology and music without, however, compromising the nuances of both disciplines. This article mainly examines the rise of Anatolian Pop—a fusion of rock music and Turkish folk—in a holistic manner. A Bourdieusian analysis of art is inherently sociological in nature, and it also involves the analysis of structural history; interactive fields—politics and music, in this context; musical phenomena; and the different structures and agencies that influence a given field. This study, therefore, draws from and is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s holistic approach. This study shows that the birth of Anatolian Pop in the 1960’s was not accidental or spontaneous. In fact, the emergence of Anatolian Pop was made possible by a favorable political environment and the emergence of autonomous art in Turkey in the 1960s; additionally, it was also influenced by protest music, which was popular in the US in the 1960s. Protest music, in particular, encouraged self-expression