2209 The republic of love: cultural intimacy in Turkish popular music (2010), Martin Stokes book review eyma Ersoy Çak* Corresponding Author: *Dr. Faculty Member, Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Music, Turkish Music Main Art Branch. Book Review RAST MUSICOLOGY JOURNAL | Special Issue 2019, 7(2) Ersoy Çak, . (2019), The republic of love: cultural intimacy in Turkish popular music (2010), Martin Stokes book review, Rast Musicology Journal, 7(2), s.2209-2212. Doi:https://doi.org/10.12975/ pp2209-2212 After the interaction of Turkish maqam (tune) music elements with arabesque tunes and popular music types after 1960s, the combination of lyrics, composition and performance were moved to diferent dimensions and signifcant transformations in terms of music were experienced in the second half of the 20th century. In the music history of Turkey, each period, which can be separately categorized into 1960s, 1980s and 1990s, determined its own actors representing diferent musical elements it contains. From the recording technologies used in records, cassettes and CDs to composition techniques, and from preferred instruments and performing techniques to visual elements, musical periods fed from diferent sources emerged. Zeki Müren, Orhan Gencebay and Sezen Aksu, whom Martin Stokes masterfully chose to include in his book published in 2010 TheRepublic of Love: Cultural Intimacy in Turkish Popular Music (Ak Cumhuriyeti: Türk Popüler Müziğinde Kültürel Mahrem) 1 with their common characteristics of lyrics writer, composer and soloist, are among the important representatives of the mentioned periods. This abstract, written for the purpose of promoting the book, examines the conceptualization of these iconic artists selected as period representatives. In Stoke’s book, Zeki Müren, who started 1 Te Turkish version of the book was published in 2012 from Koç University publications. his stage life between the years of 1950- 85 as a Turkish music soloist at TRT Radio Institution and later became a popular icon with his records, as casino soloist and flm actor, is examined through the concept of cultural intimacy in terms of his musical performance, pronunciation, sound as well as features such as ‘queer nightclub star’ representation and ‘model citizen’ following his demise. The book continues with another representative of the period, Orhan Gencebay, described by the author as the 2 ‘inventor’ of the arabesque music which is also the subject of his feld study in Turkey, who started his music life in TRT as a young saz (Turkish musical instrument) master in the early 1960s. In addition to the narration of his life through his entering the market with his frst song ‘Bir Teselli Ver’ (1969) (Give me a Consolation) and his gaining popularity by entering the movie sector, Gencebay’s infuence on the arabesque culture in Turkey is also examined. Another biographical narrative in the book is the section where the identity of Sezen Aksu, crowned as the ‘diva of pop’, as female songwriter, composer and soloist is emphasized and the view of the popular music world of the 1990s is conceptualized. Stokes associated these 2 As a result of his field work in Turkey in 1980, the book that he wrote about the arabesque music and its representatives named Te Arabesque Debate: Music and Musicians in Modern Turkey was published in 1992 with the title Te Arabesque Incident in Turkey from İletişim publications.