Benevolent conquerors, besieged homelands, threated state: the reproduction of political myths in cold war Turkey

This dissertation analyzes the changing discourses of Turkish nationalism between 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 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.