The presentation of history in Turkish TV series on history as a popular culture product

With the growth of digital platforms, historical TV series have become an essential part of contemporary popular culture, reaching wide audiences across different regions. In Turkey, this trend has become especially visible through productions such as Diriliş: Ertuğrul and Kuruluş Osman, which depict historical figures through heroic and idealized narratives that strengthen collective memory and national identity. This study analyzes these productions by drawing on Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of romantic history and Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" model to explore how history is reconstructed within popular media. Nietzsche's romantic history approach prioritizes an elevated and emotionally charged interpretation of the past that serves the cultural and ideological needs of society rather than presenting objective historical reality. Campbell's model, on the other hand, offers a universal structure explaining how ordinary individuals are transformed into mythic heroes through stages such as trials, guidance, confrontation with symbolic forces, and return as a savior. Together, these frameworks reveal how historical characters in Turkish series are reshaped into monumental heroes who represent national origins. In the examined productions, Ertuğrul and Osman are distanced from their limited historical records and reinterpreted through a mythological hero cycle that mirrors Campbell's narrative stages. This process detaches them from everyday historicity and positions them as founding figures within a symbolic national mythology. The study finds that these series align closely with Nietzsche's category of "monumental history," emphasizing idealization and heroism while employing minimal critical historical evaluation. Ultimately, Turkish historical series do more than narrate past events; they construct romanticized and mythological interpretations that reinforce collective identity and emotional continuity. This phenomenon blurs the boundaries between academic and popular history, shaping audience perceptions through dramatic storytelling rather than critical historical inquiry.