Res. Asst. Okan Kırbacı presented the paper titled “Filmde Madunun Temsili: “Nasıl Kaybolunur”, co-authored with Melda Öztutgan, at the 3rd International Short Film, Video and Photography Symposium.
The presentation began by explaining the term “subaltern,” first mentioned in Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks in the 1930s to describe social groups excluded from hegemonic structures and unable to position themselves as historical subjects. The presenters also discussed Gayatri Spivak’s famous question, “Can the subaltern speak?”, and emphasized that within subaltern studies, this question has shifted toward “Can the subaltern be heard?” They highlighted that even when the subaltern speaks, their voice often cannot be interpreted within hegemonic systems, and examined the reasons behind this. This theoretical framework was explored through the short film How to Disappear (2023), written and directed by Tilbe Cana İnan. The study conducted a qualitative content analysis of the film. Findings indicated that although the subaltern character in the film does not fit the socio-economic definition of the subaltern, he is positioned allegorically as disadvantaged. His voice becomes lost within the space; even when he speaks, his words are not meaningfully interpreted within the hegemonic system. This reflects the heterogeneity of the subaltern concept. In parallel with the filmmaker’s approach, the narrative visualizes the character’s exclusion both ideologically and spatially, as well as the discursive mismatch between the subaltern and the non-subaltern, revealing a dual structure shaped around hopelessness and learned helplessness.
We congratulate Res. Asst. Okan Kırbacı and wish him continued academic success.
