Cinemagoing, Turkish Cypriot Audience and Turkish Nationalism in 1950s Cyprus

The present study proposes a new approach to examine rise of Turkish nationalism associated with cinema culture mainly in political and historical contexts of 1950s Cyprus. While the study has an original case and makes a contribution to the literature with new knowledge, it also introduces a new approach for the research on the phenomenon; by using micro-historical approaches of new cinema history. Cinema business and practices has its golden age in 1950s by the development of Turkish Cinema in Turkey and increasing number of movie theatres, cantered mainly in Nicosia and spread to other cities and villages, among Turkish Cypriot community. The period was also important in sense on political developments. Anti-colonial and inter-communal conflicts became extreme movements. Ethnocentric diversity and national fragmentation speeded up. Cinemagoing experiences had been shaped by this political context and also had significant influences on political developments vice versa. To achieve its goals, the study mainly focuses on the objectives of exploring the early experiences of cinema in multi-communal context, identifying transformation of the cinemagoing experience during the rise of ethnic diversity and nationalism, questioning the influence of Turkish films on Turkish Cypriot national and ethnic identity and finally approaching to movie theatre as a new public sphere as a center for social interaction and national identity formation. Drawing on archival research in different centers and archives in both Northern and Southern Cyprus and on oral history; the present study aims to use both early cinema theories and new approaches of cinema history in order to examine the cinema as a political and national scope, addressing the direct and indirect role of cinemagoing and film consumption in political and sociocultural contexts of 1950s as Turkish Cypriot culture become increasingly aligned with Turkish nationalism. In other words, the present study aims to provide new sights for cinemagoing culture in Cyprus during the 1950s from national identity formation and national belonging horizons.