The history concept in the works of Nevzat Kösoğlu in terms of popular historiography and his viewpoints on history education

In the present study, the history concept of Nevzat Kösoğlu and his viewpoints on history education in terms of popular historiography were examined. Nevzat Kösoğlu is a nationalist/conservative intellectual. He dealt with the culture and history concepts together to create a national consciousness in society. The Descriptive Screening Model was used in the study. Firstly, the opinions of Nevzat Kösoğlu in his works were determined. Based on the literature, it was determined and interpreted by whom the history concept of Kösoğlu was influenced. In the context of the purpose of the study, the sources of the popular narratives in his works were determined and evaluated. Nevzat Kösoğlu had an argument like "the Laws of Culture are the Laws of History". In this respect, the stages of culture are also the stages of history. In this context, he argued that Turkish history had four stages, which were establishment, maturation, stagnation and cooling. It was observed that in this classification, Nevzat Kösoğlu was affected by the Tavırlar Nazariye of Ibn Khaldun. According to Nevzat Kösoğlu, history is an area that needs to be drawn a lesson with/learned. We need to read the Turkish history to learn and to draw a lesson. The period of the Turkish history that lasted until the Seljukian period was accepted as the establishment, the period that lasted until the defeat of Vienna was accepted as the maturation, and the period after the Vienna defeat and afterwards was accepted as the period of cooling. In his works, Nevzat Kösoğlu often gives examples from Popular History narrations. These narrations were determined to be taken from the primary sources of the period, especially from the Ottoman chronicles. However, it was also determined that there were no academic methods about the sources of these popular histories in his works. With the help of the narratives, we may argue that it aims to create a unique style in addition to a national consciousness in society. We may argue that Nevzat Kösoğlu was influenced by Ziya Gökalp about history education. Thanks to history education, it is provided that individuals attach emotionally and trust their nation. He also argued that a national history education was a must to see history as a meaningful whole through a national window. Nevzat Kösoğlu accepted history as an area that needed to be learned, and considered history education as the most important area for the creation of a national consciousness. In line with the targets to create a national consciousness and a unique style in the society, we may argue that he used popular narration as a tool. Keywords: History education, popular historiography, national history, Nevzat Kösoğlu