Cinema as the “Weapon of the Enemy”: The Archaeology of an Islamist Film Criticism Discourse

Abstract

The issue of how cinema should be, the influence of which on the society was indisputable for the intellectuals, became an important subject during especially 1960s in Turkey. During these years, the discourse of Islamism once again made an appearance in Turkish politics and thought in the form of a nationalist religious discourse. This study will examine the reproduction process of Islamist discourse on cinema and analyze the composition of Islamist film criticism.
 Even though the discourse of film criticism expressed as “arming up with the weapon of the enemy” seemed to come forward with its rejectionist attitude, it actually reflected an attitude toward harmony beyond measure. Redescribing cinema as an area dominated by symbolic violence caused the amorphization and reactiveness of cinema products. On the other hand, a second direction that opened a door for the imitation of the cinematic movements and products considered as rivals brought along the state of being bereft of identity despite its heavy emphasis on identity.
 The idea of “arming up with the weapon of the enemy” showed a continuity in the perception of cinema as a propagandist and political instrument. It became functional as a discourse activated by Islamists before they entered into the fields such as cinema production and film criticism, fields that were new to them. This understanding is based on a modernization-oriented approach that envisages a rupture with the tradition and distinguishing oneself from the existing cultural accumulation. It produces the content of this understanding by translating the dominant thoughts in the area on which it would like to exert its dominance into religious terminology. In that regard, it is a product of a mimetic cultural stance.

Şule Yüksel Şenler: An Islamist Vernacular Intellectual

“…In order to be different from them, our old culture provides us with rich examples. (Miyasog ˘lu cited in Çayır 2007: 8-9) The same putative hadith dominated the discussions of Islamist cinema in its emergence period (Bostan and Mustafa 2022). 5 During the 1940s and the 1950s, despite some emphasis on its useful potential, Islamists cinema, like they did with novels.…”

“…In addition to these text-related reasons, as a side note, my positioning as a principled pragmatist probably contributes to this disagreement, too. 5 Following Bostan's (2021) previous short article, in this new and more detailed article, Bostan and Mustafa offer a textual archaeology by analysing Islamist periodicals of the time. In that sense, their work provides a valuable resource to see the broader circulation of the given statement and the relevant logic in various forms.…”