Since its inception in the late 1980s, the Turkish black metal scene has gone through significant changes. Whereas earlier black metal bands in Turkey avoided references to Islam in their cultural production, this is no longer the case. Rather, during the last decade and a half, Islamic semiotic resources (ISRs) have started to become a noticeable feature of the scene’s cultural production. A contextual understanding of the scene’s new relationship to ISRs is the primary aim of this dissertation. Based on six years of fieldwork in Turkey, including interviews with scene participants, observations at numerous black metal concerts, combined with an analysis of albums, concert posters, and other subcultural artefacts, this dissertation explores the utilisation of Islamic themes in words, imagery, and sound within Turkish black metal and the meanings ascribed to them.

It demonstrates that blasphemous expressions targeting Islam have not only increased over time but have become more prominent than might at first seem warranted because of what will be called the ‘transferability of affordance’. Furthermore, in its aim to comprehend the utilisation of ISRs, this dissertation explores how Turkish and transnational developments along with discourses of authenticity and identity have informed and shaped blasphemous expression towards Islam, arguing the latter may aid Turkish bands in claiming subcultural capital and partaking in a global scene. It furthermore investigates how the religio-political realities of contemporary Turkey have impacted blasphemous expression towards Islam. In contrast to much research arguing that the epithet ‘blasphemous’ is rarely a label with which individuals or groups self-identify, this dissertation shows that, while it may be self-sought and actively pursued, it is an identity that needs to be carefully navigated.

This dissertation contributes to the fields of Turkish studies, religious semiotics, metal music studies, and apostasy studies by exploring how the concept of blasphemy acquires meaning in various contexts, as well as the influences shaping individuals’ willingness to blaspheme. While there is a significant body of research on black metal within Christian cultural contexts, this dissertation on Turkish black metal constitutes the first monograph dealing with this type of music in a Muslim majority society.