The historical Turkish drama - which focused on the period of the establishment of the Ottoman Empire - represents a model of cinema that blends artistic value and aesthetic dimension in its approach to events and facts according to the requirements of artistic creativity of historical cinema, with a perspective that makes historical events and characters, neglected in historical texts and inherited stories, as active symbols in The formulation of the collective conscience, through the dynamics possessed by culture and its influential elements. The combination of artistic value and the aesthetic dimension on the one hand, and the historical reality with its cultural, religious and political dimensions and its invocation in the context of reconstruction, made such works closer to the aspirations of the public and close to their conscience, historical memory and collective awareness, Which calls for us to consider the determinants on which historical cinematic works focus.
Islam has given the tribes and peoples that embraced it an existential message in life and a new civilized project in most of the East and the countries to which it has spread.
Religion and tribe.. The foundations of the formation of the state between history and cinema
Both religion and tribe historically constitute one of the foundations for the formation of the state and the entire civilizational revival in Islamic history. From this perspective, there are two foundations, so that the tribe forms the form and template, with the thorns, invincibility and fanaticism that it provides for the establishment of the state, while religion and the spirit represent the collective and carnal impulse of social components. Islam emerged in an environment that was divided between two civilized and political forces at the time, namely, the Persians and the Romans. The eastern social system at that time consisted of tribes wandering in the desert, boasting of invincibility and proud of the tribe’s values and customs, but they lacked the civilized project, and they were absent from the destination.
Islam has given the tribes and peoples that embraced it an existential message in life and a new civilized project in most of the East and the countries to which it has spread. When the Quraish fanaticism mixed with the religious idea in its first stage was the basis for the expansion of the base of the Islamic society in the East, which is what happened in most countries in the East and West with various fanatics, and the same with the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, which embodies a number of cinematic works the effectiveness of the tribal element or Turkish nationalism and the fusion that It happened with the religious component, and its political and social results were of strength and expansion, east and west.
Religion has not lost its vitality in the Arab and Islamic field, but it still constitutes a major motive in guiding awareness. Religious values and the dimension of the soul infiltrated into the prevailing culture and awareness, as it became a symbolic capital that represented a return to it and summoned, in cinematic works, an element of attraction to the audience in the context of controversy with Other cinematic works tend to be deconstructed, despite their artistic value. The spiritual dimension and religious ethics reflect an aspect that is at the heart of the culture of Eastern societies and one of the foundations of the formation of societal awareness of it, because the Muslim in the present time, when he looks at aspects of the scenario of historical films, finds that they serve as A mirror through which he looks at some of the features of his personality throughout history. Rather, its introspection of the spiritual and moral aspect with a background that evokes moral and religious values, in a creative artistic form, was manifested in the fact that creativity is not necessarily joints of moral dimensions, or that art is the opposite of religion, rather they are from one niche, Between them there is a principled unity (Ali Izetbegovic, Islam Among the Orientand the West), so that they respond to man’s inner concerns, and satisfy his spiritual need, and they express man’s innate aspirations for the Absolute, or the transcendent dimension of the tangible material world.
This aspect is almost present in multiple manifestations, in discourse, symbols, and so on, but it is sufficient for us to monitor it at the level of personalities only, such as the personality of Ibn Arabi in the Artgrel series, and Adib Ali in the Osman series, and the role that accompanied their presence that amounted to a spiritual guide, or the authors of religious foundations In spite of the problematic of the historical reality of Ibn Arabi’s existence mainly in that and in that geographical spot, or the amplification of his role, as well as the role of Sheikh Adeeb Ali at a later stage, in addition to the tendency of gratitude that appeals to Turkish culture, their invocation should be viewed from A purely creative angle, where creative imagination constitutes the essence of the artwork, otherwise it becomes a dry historical novel without a soul. Moreover, it is realistic in the historical context that reminds the recipient of the social and educational roles played by jurists, mystics and philosophers, and their relationship to politics and power in general.
In fact, we can list things from the cinematic works, which left a controversy between the limits of artistic imagination and historical reality, including, as previously, at the level of personalities, the character of Ibn Arabi and other personalities, but despite the fact that it does not exist, its absence from the artwork would have stripped it of one of its dimensions The aesthetic that was latent in history, even in other manifestations, such as the world's relationship with power or politics
The historical incident and the heroism between the artistic creative dimension and the historical truth
History is a raw material for every creativity, and when cinema is fused with history, the artwork is not expected to tell us the historical novel as it was transmitted orally or through blogging, because historical novels, as previously, are mostly material without a soul, and what gives them the soul and gives them life is the imagination of the writer , screenwriter or director.
It can be said that the historical texts, which recorded many facts and experiences of previous peoples and nations, are not all the primary source for the aesthetics of works of art, despite being a source of inspiration. Of consistency and creativity that expresses the world of the director or writer.
So;
The demand for historical works should be from an artistic standpoint first, so that it creates pleasure and develops the values of beauty inherent in man. Intrinsic to this or that work of art, and therefore the Turkish historical drama may recover some of the features of history, but it should not be viewed from the standpoint of historical facts, despite the possibility of the existence of many of them, or criticism from this aspect, claiming that it contradicts the history that took place, because the purpose is What governs such works of art is their contribution, both veiled and declared, to the instrument of cinema in linking cultural and value foundations that have been cut off or swept away with the secularization of coercion and coercion in the modern context.
In fact, we can list things from the cinematic works, which left a controversy between the limits of artistic imagination and historical reality, including, as previously, at the level of personalities: Ibn Arabi and others, but despite their absence in reality, their absence from the artwork would have stripped him of one of its aesthetic dimensions that were It is latent in history, even in other manifestations such as the world’s relationship with power or politics, and it will strip him of one of the characters whose role may be essential in highlighting the intended message of these cinematic works, and we can point here to the extent of the organization and the social role through which the mystical traditions emerged. , although it was not that qualitative presence at the time, but the current moment and religious culture in the Turkish context mixed with mysticism and gratitude, and the impact of this on the formulation of awareness calls for its presence.
What we alluded to about the personalities, we can talk about the facts, the roles of the so-called temple guards, the Mongols, the imagined relations of Byzantium / Constantinople, the struggle within its walls during the reign of Othman, and the great heroic roles of the Ottomans in that particular period. The presence of that in a large part of it can be considered imaginary, but In the context of the conflict, he was present in some way, as it is a necessity to draw the features of the championship, without forgetting that recalling this aspect of history is of great importance, to highlight the challenges that were being posed at the time in the context of the formation of the state when the East was mostly crumbling, and they are presented at the present moment. In complex regional and international contexts, Turkey is going through its transitional period to restore the role it was playing before it fell prey to colonialism, and as we indicated in the previous article, what politics does not say may be said by cinema or drama. The relationship of cinema to politics is close.
In conclusion: The roles played by historical drama, in the Turkish context, work in parallel with other aspects that try to monitor the transformation that has taken place, but rather to influence its cultural and religious features that restore the project that the Ottomans initially relied on, and even all countries relied on in The Middle East and North Africa, which contributed to the formulation of the features of civilization in Islamic history, which Arab cinema did not succeed in, that is, in summoning its symbols and characters in a context of new construction, but this Arab remains intractable, as the cinema that internalizes a message that serves the strategic goals of countries , in the context of the struggle for independence and progress in today's world, an aspect of cultural and scientific renaissance and political will.
In a word: Turkish drama has already proven to be an effective soft force inside Turkey, reshaping collective consciousness, and outside it to serve Turkish interests.