Masculinity Aloft and on the Ground: The Myth of Warrior Nation in Turkey's Cold War Cinema

Abstract

This article explores the construction of militarized masculinity and nationalist myths in Turkish Cold War cinema of the 1960s through a comparative analysis of two films: On Korkusuz Adam (Ten Fearless Men, 1964) and Göklerdeki Sevgili (The Lover in the Skies, 1966). Produced and circulated in a period of political realignments as a response to the Cold War and the Cyprus conflict, these films played a role in the popularization of the myth of warrior nation. Hence, relying on theories on the formulation of political myths and gendered nationalism, this study shows how the representation of the Cyprus conflict worked to justify national superiority and heroism of Turks. Close reading and contextual film analysis reveal that these films do not merely reproduce the official nationalist discourse, but they actively shape militarist discourses by inviting viewers to align with the Turkish hero's point of view. Furthermore, the study inserts the films into a broader Cold War cultural corpus through establishing parallels with American and South Korean examples. In doing so, it deepens the analysis of the relationship between politics and culture by stating what role globally played by Turkish cinema in the production and popularization of the myth of warrior nation.