The Impossibility of Forgetting: Would This Heart Forget You?

Abstract

Would This Heart Forget You? (2009–2010) was a controversial program, taken off the air because of its challenging narrative, which explored connections between the 1980 coup and contemporary Turkey. The serial’s fictional protagonist reflects on the past during psychotherapy sessions in contemporary Turkey, reminiscing about torture and displacement as practices that ushered in the new social, political, and cultural landscape. This landscape includes new opposition movements such as those dedicated to human rights, feminism, and environmentalism. Remembering the past as a national childhood marked by tragedy, and the child as a person of unsettled heritage, the serial questions Turkish history and identity. It was discontinued amid protests by political and institutional figures, reports about low ratings, and televised pleas for audience support.