The Construction of Collective Non-Conforming Identity in Türkiye through Alternative Media

This study examines how Kaos GL Magazine, the longest-running queer publication in Türkiye, constructed a collective identity through its first two texts published in 1994, the year it was launched. Until the early 1990s, the queer movement in Turkey had not been part of the new social movements, and queer identities had been rendered invisible. Kaos GL not only documented the development of the movement but also played an active role in the identity struggle of non-heterosexual individuals. The theoretical framework of the study draws on Queer Linguistics, while its methodology is based on grounded thematic analysis and the Discourse-Historical Approach, a model within Critical Discourse Analysis. Thematic content was first identified in the two texts, followed by an analysis of in-group and out-group representations through nomination and predication strategies. The findings reveal the construction of a positive and complex in-group, in contrast to a negative, homogeneous, and less complex out-group. These in-group/out-group dynamics and the multi-layered structuring of the in-group are interpreted within their historical and socio-political context.