The Production of Wounded Attachment

Abstract This article locates itself in the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey to study the cultural production of reactionary sentiment. Placing Wendy Brown's concept of “wounded attachment” in conversation with materialist and anticolonial theorizations of indignation in Turkey and beyond, the article explores the production of a reactionary mood that traverses affective, economic, technological, and cultural dynamics. In order to do so, it focuses on an intriguing example of wounded attachment in the post-2016 period: the sense of concern and anxiety that has formed around public performances of the ezan (the Islamic call to prayer). The article argues that feelings of indignation, victimhood, and revenge are crucial to Turkish politics, as their production lies at the intersection of specific memories of injury and the material foundations of contemporary capitalism in Turkey.