Pelin Başcı, Social Trauma and Telecinematic Memory: Imagining the Turkish Nation since the 1980 Coup. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, xiii + 340 pages.

interactions, if we are to follow Sennett’s conceptualization – among inhabitants. While the book delicately illustrates the ways in which anxieties have been processed through varying visual strategies predicated on and revolving around loss and nostalgia, it is not equally clear how these strategies have reinforced the possibilities that might be born out of such encounters. Istanbul, Open City presents a powerful and inspiring account of urban modernity in Istanbul – a city, with its multilayered histories, which is charming at first glance, yet equally challenging for its observers. Combining meticulous visual analysis with a comprehensive historical outlook, it skillfully explores deep-seated conflicts and tensions that plague the city’s present. As such, it is a stimulating work that deserves to be read not only by scholars of urban studies, but also by anyone who seeks to understand the perplexing reality of contemporary Turkey.