From Thrifty Peasant to Modern Farmer: A Visual Reading of Agricultural Modernization in Türkiye (1923–1950)

This chapter examines agricultural modernization in Türkiye between 1923 and 1950 through posters, advertisements, and related visual materials. This study contributes in interpreting agricultural policies through the visual construction of a productive, thrifty, and institutionally integrated rural citizen. The study employs qualitative visual analysis within a historical-contextual discourse framework. Materials are evaluated according to institutional creators, compositions, slogans, depicted actors, technology, labor, thrift, domestic production, and calls to action. Western tractor advertisements and wartime agricultural propaganda are used solely as comparative reference points. The study is limited to the above-mentioned era since the early Republican era presents a relatively coherent, state-centered visual regime. After 1950, expanding commercial media, international aid initiatives, and mechanization-oriented advertising created a different communication ecology requiring separate investigation. This chronological limitation enables a more focused analysis of the relationship between early Republican agricultural policy, modernization ideals, visual communication, and public pedagogy in the Turkish context.