Cinema, censorship and educational impact: a semiotic and empirical analysis of the compilation–oral history documentary “Yollara Düştük” (We Hit the Road)
Introduction Compilation-oral history documentaries operate at the intersection of ideological struggle and educational praxis, yet their dual function as counter-hegemonic texts and pedagogical tools remains under-theorized. This two-phase study examines the 2014 Turkish documentary Yollara Düştük through semiotic and educational lenses to investigate how hegemonic control is contested in compilation documentaries and how such films influence university audiences' perceptions of censorship, motivation, and beliefs about success. Methods Phase 1 employed a critical-semiotic analysis drawing on Peirce's sign model, Eco's concept of the “open work,” Barthes' myth theory, and Gramsci's theory of hegemony to examine how archival images, editing strategies, and oral testimonies transform symbolically within the documentary text. Phase 2 utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. A newly developed and validated 24-item instrument-the Documentary Cinema Educational Impact Scale (BSES)-was administered to 440 university students and faculty members across three dimensions: Perception of Censorship and Attitude Against It, Educational Motivation, and Beliefs in Success in Life. Model fit was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Qualitative interviews (n = 30) were subsequently conducted, and joint display analysis was used to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings. Results Semiotic analysis revealed that censorship functions as a semiotic struggle in which archival traces are recoded within counter-hegemonic narratives. The opening sequence (00:00–03:15) employs static shots of closed cinema doors and silence to symbolize suppression, while the archival montage (12:40–18:10) forges temporal links between 1977 and 2014 footage, transforming historical traces into symbols of resistance. Quantitatively, the BSES demonstrated excellent model fit (χ2/df = 1.95, RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94, SRMR = 0.045). Educational motivation emerged as the strongest outcome (x¯ = 3.95), followed by beliefs in success in life (x¯ = 4.08), with structural censorship perception showing more moderate effects (x¯ = 3.72). Qualitative findings indicated that the film reinterprets repressed events by recontextualizing archival footage and constructing a counter-hegemonic discursive space. Joint display analysis confirmed that the documentary enhances individual motivation but exerts limited influence on perceptions of structural censorship. Discussion Compilation-oral history documentaries function simultaneously as sites of ideological struggle and as educational tools that enhance motivation and success beliefs among university audiences. However, their impact appears largely confined to symbolic awareness and individual transformation rather than catalyzing structural or institutional change. These findings suggest that while such documentaries effectively mobilize counter-hegemonic meaning-making at the semiotic level, their educational efficacy in fostering critical consciousness about systemic censorship remains bounded. Future research should explore pedagogical strategies that bridge the gap between symbolic awareness and structural critique.