Ulak (The Messenger): a mystic fable of Islamic messianism

dc.contributor.author Thwaites Diken, Ebru Çiğdem
dc.contributor.other 02.12. Department of Sociology / Sosyoloji Bölümü
dc.contributor.other 02. Faculty of Letters / Edebiyat Fakültesi
dc.contributor.other 01. Mardin Artuklu University / Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi
dc.date.accessioned 14.07.201910:50:10
dc.date.accessioned 2019-07-16T20:44:03Z
dc.date.available 14.07.201910:50:10
dc.date.available 2019-07-16T20:44:03Z
dc.date.issued 2015
dc.description.abstract Although modernity considers religion as a fable, religion has always been part of modern politics. The return of religion' in global politics, which marks the contemporary political and cultural imagination, accentuates this paradox. Religion has now become indispensible for the idea of truth. In this article, I approach this problematique by discussing the relationship between religion and art in terms of their relation to the idea of truth. In this respect, I focus on a Turkish film, Ulak (The Messenger), and analyze the film's thought about religion and the link it establishes between the artistic/narrative fable and the idea of truth. The film's choice of Gnosticism as the language of the dispossessed indicates a political position in relation to both the return of religion' and the popularity of the cultural turn in politics. On this basis, the article examines the film's take on the concept of the event as a miracle (in religious messianism), contrasting it with the philosophy of revolution. Thus, it navigates the ambivalent border between art and non-art, between the mystic fable and politics. With modernity, it is said that, art has replaced religion and borrowed its sacredness. A reverse process in place today: a resacralization of art and politics. Art and religion share a common element: illusion. However, art profanes illusion, while religion sacralizes it. On this basis, the article concludes that Ulak is a cinematic form of antiphilosophy. It is a spectacular movie as a critique of institutional religion, yet it is captivated by the understanding of truth as a miracle, by the truth of the fable. Following Badiou, who views art as a truth procedure, one could say that Ulak's potential to clarify the value of the truth event remains questionable. en_US
dc.identifier.doi 10.1080/14797585.2015.1084817
dc.identifier.issn 1479-7585
dc.identifier.issn 1740-1666
dc.identifier.scopus 2-s2.0-84947041305
dc.identifier.uri https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2015.1084817
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12514/1362
dc.indekslendigikaynak Web of Science en_US
dc.indekslendigikaynak Scopus en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD en_US
dc.relation.ispartof JOURNAL FOR CULTURAL RESEARCH en_US
dc.rights info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess en_US
dc.subject art en_US
dc.subject cinema en_US
dc.subject religion en_US
dc.subject mystic fable en_US
dc.subject philosophy en_US
dc.subject Gnosticism en_US
dc.title Ulak (The Messenger): a mystic fable of Islamic messianism en_US
dc.type Article en_US
dspace.entity.type Publication
gdc.author.id Thwaites Diken, Ebru -- 0000-0001-9293-7738
gdc.description.department [Belirlenecek] en_US
gdc.description.departmenttemp [Diken, Ebru Thwaites] Mardin Artuklu Univ, Dept Sociol, Mardin, Turkey -- [Diken, Ebru Thwaites] Mardin Artuklu Univ, Fen Edebiyat Fak, Sosyoloji Bolumu, Yenisehir, Mardin, Turkey en_US
gdc.description.endpage 406 en_US
gdc.description.issue 4 en_US
gdc.description.publicationcategory Makale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı en_US
gdc.description.scopusquality Q2
gdc.description.startpage 393 en_US
gdc.description.volume 19 en_US
gdc.identifier.wos WOS:000368741900005
gdc.scopus.citedcount 1
gdc.wos.citedcount 0
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