PhD Defence by Güldeniz Kıbrıs

Leiden University | 1 September 2022 | Academy Building – Rapenburg 73 Leiden | 15.00-15.45 CET | On-site & online

This dissertation analyzes the changing discourses of Turkish nationalism between the 1950s-1980 through the reproduction of political myths in nationalist action/adventure films with historical settings. How myths narrate the nation’s spatial, ancestral, temporal roots, present situation, future, and mission is examined in seventy-one films that recreate the past within the frameworks of different historical-political contexts. The central question is: How does the depiction of the past change through time with the increasing polarizations and hence nationalist militancy in the country? With a close reading in combination with film analysis, the depictions of the ideal representative of the Turkish nation, the national leader, warrior, enemies, friends, women, children, the national space, religion, and national mission are revealed. Overall, the dissertation manifests the pluralistic and dynamic nature of Turkish nation-building, which continuously evolves by responding to the context. 

Güldeniz Kıbrıs received her BA from Koç University International Relations, MA from Modern History, Sabancı University. Her research interests include everyday life, nationalism and international relations, historical approaches to communication studies, historical approaches to law,  and nation-building in Turkey and Mediterranean Europe.