Representations of the Kurdish Question in the New Cinema of Turkey
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Istanbul Sehir University Repository REPRESENTATIONS OF THE KURDISH QUESTION IN THE NEW CINEMA OF TURKEY YASİN AYDINLIK İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY JULY 2014 REPESENTATIONS OF THE KURDISH QUESTION IN THE NEW CINEMA OF TURKEY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF İSTANBUL ŞEHİR UNIVERSITY BY YASİN AYDINLIK REQUIREMENTS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENTFOR OF THE THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN CULTURAL STUDIES JULY 2014 ABSTRACT REPRESENTATIONS OF THE KURDISH QUESTION IN THE NEW CINEMA OF TURKEY MA, Department of Cultural StudiesAydınlık, Yasin Supervisor: Prof. Mesut Yeğen pages July 2014, 107 This thesis aims to explore representations of the Kurdish question in the new cinemahow the of KurdishTurkey that question has emerged –by all since actors the 1990s.from KurdsThe study to Turksfocuses– mainlyhas been on represented, and what kind of representational strategies have been operated in films. In order to read filmic representations thoroughly, the study uses diagnostic critique for analysis. Diagnostic reading of films requires considering filmic texts within their context, and results in giving insight to social realities. Within this framework, nineteen films entailing the Kurdish question in the new cinema of Turkey were selected. The selected films expand over a period starting fromthe first 1996, years which of theis accepted as the beginning of the new cinema of Turkey, to theoretical texts, other2010s. films, orThe audience films were reactions. critically As a read result, via it approacheshas been seen of that the films entailing the Kurdish question in the new cinema of Turkey embodied around three major themes: fantasizing the question, facing the other, and reckoning with the past. In the end, these three themes can be read as indications of different social demands which can be found in different perceptions of the Turkish society towards the Kurdish question. Keywords: Representation, Kurdish question, new cinema of Turkey, diagnostic critique v ÖZ YENİ TÜRKİYE SİNEMASINDA KÜRT MESELESİNİN TEMSİLLERİ Aydınlık, Yasin MA, Kültürel Çalışmalar Bölümü Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Mesut Yeğen sayfa Temmuz 2014, 107 Bu tez, 1990’larla birlikte ortaya çıkan yeni Türkiye sinemasında Kürt meselesinin temsilleri üzerine odaklanır. Çalışmada özellikle, Kürt meselesinin bütün aktörleriyle nasıl temsil edildiği ve filmlerde hangi temsil stratejilerinin kullanıldığı üzerinde durulmaktadır. Çalışma, film temsillerini derinlemesine bir okumaya tabi tutmak için teşhise dayalı okuma yöntemini kullanır. Filmlerin teşhise dayalı bir okumasını yapmak, film metinlerini bağlamlarıyla birlikte değerlendirmeyi gerektirdiği gibi toplumsal gerçeklikler hakkında bir kavrayış da kazandırır. Bu çerçevede, yeni Türkiye sinemasında Kürt meselesine dair on dokuz film seçilmiştir. Seçilen filmler, yeni Türkiye sinemasının başlangıcı kabul edilen 1996’dan 2010’ların ilk yıllarına kadar uzanan bir sürece yayılmaktadırlar. Filmler, teorik metinlerle, başka filmlerle ya da seyirci tepkileriyle birlikte ele alınarak eleştirel bir okumaya tabi tutulmuştur. Bunun sonucunda, yeni Türkiye sinemasında Kürt meselesine dair filmlerin üç ana izlek etrafında şekillendiği görülmüştür: Meselenin fantezileştirilmesi, ötekiyle yüzleşme ve geçmişle hesaplaşma. Sonuç olarak bu üç farklı izlek, Türkiye toplumun Kürt meselesine dairtezahürü algısında olarak kendine okunabilmektedir. yer bulan birbirinden farklı toplumsal taleplerin birer Anahtarokuma Kelimeler: Temsil, Kürt meselesi, yeni Türkiye sineması, teşhise yönelik vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. encouragement, patience and guidance Mesutat every Yeğen step forof this his continuousstudy. I would support, also like to thank my thesis committee, Prof. Mahmut Mutman and Prof. Ferhat Kentel, for their insightful comments and questions, and Assoc. Prof. Umut Tümay Arslan for her generous advice. I would also like to thank Ms. Rana Marcella Özenç from the Academic Writing Centernever-ending at İstanbul questions Şehir in University the middle for of her busyquick schedule. and helpful responses to my I am especially indebted to Assist. Prof. Hediyetullah Aydeniz, former general coordinator of Marmara Media Center at Marmara University, for his great support and understanding throughout this process. Furthermore, I am grateful to my parents, who did not hesitate, for even a second, to give me their genuine support and did stand not to see me for a long period. I always felt their prayers with me. Andsupport, last, understanding,but not least, a and heartfelt selflessness thanks as to I mywas wife writing Bade, this for thesis. her continuous This work would not be possible without her unwavering encouragement. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACTÖZ .......................................................................................................................................................................... vi ............................................................................................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... viii TABLEINTRODUCTION OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................... CHAPTER 1 ................................................ 5 -Structuralism 1. HOW TO READ FILMS? TOWARDS A DIAGNOSTIC ................................ CRITIQUE ................................ 5 1.1. From Structuralism to Post .......................................... 12 1.2. Lacanian Subject and the Psychoanalytic ................................ Film Theory............................................ 17 1.3. Hegemony, Ideology, and Cinema ...................................................................................... 23 1.4 Reading Film Diagnostically ......................... 2. THE KURDISH QUESTION: RECOGNITION, ................................ CONFESSION,................................ AND DENIAL ............. 26 2.1. From the Empire to the Republic ................................................... 29 2.2. National Struggle and the Denial of ................................ the Question ........................................... 33 REPRESENTATIONS2.3. Nineties Experience OF THEand OnwardsKURDISH QUESTION IN THE NEW CINEMA OF 3.TURKEY ............................................................................................................................................................ .................................... 38 3.1. National Fantasies: The Many Faces of the Kurdish ................................ Other ........................... 39 3.1.1. Childish Heroes from a Fantasized Past ............................................................. 42 3.1.2. Mythic Enemies in a Manichean Battle ........................................................... 47 3.1.3. Proper Citizens of a Benevolent Mother ................................................. 51 3.1.4. Beyond Fantasy: Towards Revealing the Real ............................ 54 3.2. Impossible Desires: The Unknown Faces of the Kurdish ................................ Other ................. 56 3.2.1. Inevitable Encounters with a Peaceful Enemy ..................................................... 63 3.2.2. Recusant Children of a Surviving Language ................................................. 69 3.2.3. Beyond Desire: Towards Becoming the Other urdish Question ............... 75 3.3. Return of the Oppressed: Facing the Nineties of the K ......................................... 77 3.3.1. The Children of ‘Them’: Fırat, Gülistan, and Cemal ......................................... 80 3.3.2. The Children of ‘Us’: Nuri Kaya, 69, and the Others ................................. 83 3.3.3. Beyond ................................ Cinema: Towards................................ Standing................................ against the ‘Father’.................................................. CONCLUSIONREFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................. 87 APPENDIX 92 .............................................................. CREDITS OF THE FILMS MENTIONED IN THE THESIS 101viii INTRODUCTION The Kurdish question has been one of the fundamental problems in Turkey for decades. As the President of Turkey declared in 2009, it is the primary question of the country, and it must be solved (Yetkin, 2009). Especially by the 1990s, some important changes began to take place in the historical process of the Kurdish question. As Mesut Yeğen (2011) states, the cultural and political aspects of the Kurdish question were first recognized by the state during the period that started in the 1990s, and is still an on-going one (p. 22). The Kurdish discontentment had originally become significant at the end of the Cold War, and concepts such as democracy and human rights gained power in modern politics, as Turkey began experiencing the trend of globalisation. Since it is such a multidimensional issue, the Kurdish question requires to be explored from different perspectives.