UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Performing modernity: Atatürk on film (1919-1938) Dinç, E. Publication date 2016 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Dinç, E. (2016). Performing modernity: Atatürk on film (1919-1938). General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:24 Sep 2021 PERFORMING MODERNITY Atatürk on Film (1919-1938) Enis Dinç PERFORMING MODERNITY Atatürk on Film (1919-1938) ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op dinsdag 13 december 2016, te 12:00 uur door Enis Dinç geboren te Biga, Turkije Promotores: prof. dr. F.P.I.M van Vree, Universiteit van Amsterdam prof. dr. M.Ş. Hanioğlu, Princeton University Copromotor: dr. E. Peeren, Universiteit van Amsterdam Overige leden: prof. dr. J.T. Leerssen, Universiteit van Amsterdam prof. dr. M.J. Wintle, Universiteit van Amsterdam prof. dr. ir. B.J. de Kloet, Universiteit van Amsterdam dr. G. Uslu, Universiteit van Amsterdam dr. A. Gürata, Bilkent University prof. dr. F.E. Kessler, Universiteit Utrecht Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen To my mother Birten Dinç Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Materials ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 Approach ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1: Early Cinema in the Ottoman Empire .............................................................. 19 The Beginnings of Cinema in Europe and the United States ................................................... 19 The Beginnings of Cinema in the Ottoman Empire ..................................................................... 21 Public Cinema in the Ottoman Empire ............................................................................................. 28 Wartime Cinema ......................................................................................................................................... 39 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 2: Mustafa Kemal, Cinema and Turkey: The Early Years (1919-1923) ..... 49 Film as Evidence of the Past for the Future .................................................................................... 53 Mustapha Kemel (1920-1929) .............................................................................................................. 61 Mustapha Kemal (1923) .......................................................................................................................... 67 The Reception of the Lausanne Peace Committee (1923) .......................................................... 69 Love in a Time of Ceasefire: Mustafa Kemal and Lâtife ............................................................. 76 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3: Imagining Turkey as a Modern Nation ............................................................ 84 The Making of Mustafa Kemal’s Film ................................................................................................. 86 Preliminary Speeches (Scene I) ........................................................................................................... 89 The Fountain (Scene II) ......................................................................................................................... 104 The Garden (Scene III) ........................................................................................................................... 111 The Cows (Scene IV) ............................................................................................................................... 112 The Poultry (Scene V) ............................................................................................................................ 114 The Sheep (Scene VI) .............................................................................................................................. 115 The Tractors (Scene VII) ....................................................................................................................... 116 The Machine Shop (Scene VIII) .......................................................................................................... 118 Woman, Lovely Woman (Scene IX) .................................................................................................. 119 The Fortunes of the Film ....................................................................................................................... 123 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 134 Chapter 4: How to Impress an American: The Power of the Motion Picture ......... 138 Who was Julien Bryan? .......................................................................................................................... 141 Bryan meets Atatürk ............................................................................................................................... 143 Turkey Reborn .......................................................................................................................................... 148 Newsreels and The March of Time ................................................................................................... 156 Father of All Turks ................................................................................................................................... 159 Intertitle 1: Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire ............................................................... 162 Intertitle 2: The Rise of the Hero ....................................................................................................... 164 Intertitle 3: The Making of Modern Turkey .................................................................................. 167 Language and Writing ............................................................................................................................ 174 A Demotic Leader ...................................................................................................................................... 177 Deconstructing Atatürk .......................................................................................................................... 181 Language, History and Identity ........................................................................................................... 183 National Education .................................................................................................................................. 194 Industry ......................................................................................................................................................... 202 Intertitle 4: Peace at Home, Peace in the World ......................................................................... 206 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 214 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 219 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 227 Samenvatting ............................................................................................................................... 233 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................