1. To See Modernization and Nationalism from the Lens of Vizontele
By
Erdal ERDOĞDU
Aysu GÖKOVA
Özge ÜÇTOP
Submitted to
Yrd. Doc. Gökçen KARANFĠL
For
MMC304 Sociology of Communication
Faculty of Communication
Ġzmir University of Economics
(Spring 2010)

2. ABSTRACT:
In our article, respectively we mentioned about modernization, nationalism, imaginary
communities, discourses, ideologies and cultural studies from general to specific. In this analysis
which was made for research it is seen that there is a hidden meaning beyond the scenes we saw in
the movie and also some notions about communication are placed into the movie secretly which can
be considered as an important communication concept. We analyzed this film in terms of
modernization, nationalism, imaginary communities, discourses and ideologies which can be
considered as important communication concepts according to our thoughts. It can be said that there
is a negotiation between real and official culture in the movie. The characters in the movie portray
past period events as a part of real life in our country and portray people who lived and witnessed
these events personally. In this movie portrayed lives are faced with the ideological and
sociological problems. Upon entry of television in their lives, which can be considered as a step for
modernization for the people of village, as a first effect it makes people conflicted and it changes a
lot of ideas in many fields. From the foundation of our country to 70s, it comes over 50 years, the
country’s western regions examined the steps of modernization earlier the same as the general
Western concepts of modernization, however it is seen that eastern regions of the country remained
the rest. The director, writer and leading actor of this movie Yılmaz Erdoğan, who came from this
region and witnessed the difficulties and realities of the region personally at the same direction of
the movie, depicted all events of that time by agency of the movie.

3. To SEE MODERNIZATION and NATIONALISM from the LENS of VİZONTELE
INTRODUCTION
1. MODERNIZATION DISCOURSES AND IDEOLOGIES
Perspective of European discourse says us that what they want to be us. We produce criteria and
criticize the other country, according to Europe. Why do we try to internalize or to accept as true
what Europe says?
The common denominator of all these studies is a belief in the modernity of nations and
nationalism. According to this perspective, both appeared in the last two centuries, that is in
the wake of the French Revolution, and they are the products of specifically modern
processes like capitalism, industrialism, the emergence of the bureaucratic state,
urbanization and secularism (Smith 1994:377 1995:29)
Beginning with the Enlightenment, Europe had witnessed many technological developments,
because of these developments Europe had gained power on a specific audience and had an
important place in the free market thanks to these developments. In addition to this Europeans had
shown a great progress in the field of communication in the world, had published their own
magnificent stories, in these publications (according to Western) they created discourses which
could be considered accurate and precise with respect to their own. “According to the narrative of
Dialectic of Enlightenment Western rationalism or imperialism which is powered by logocentrism
and which has led to the suppression of difference in a dominant, discipline world were dressed in a
new set of clothes.” ( Garnham 2000: 21)
In Turkey we don’t consider from where and how all these events had come out. We internalize
what discourses say. Discourses decide what kind of living world we have. Ideologies and
discourses are interwined. Since the early history of Western cultures, West have put itself into the
center of modernization and it have been said that other civilizations modernized according to this
center or they remained behind modernization. This point brings out the concept of West and the

4. Rest. In this direction, when we consider our country, people who live in the west are considered as
following modern and modernity. On the other hand people who live in the east are considered as
not modern and outdated. As Gellner has written “a quite special masochistic distaste for their own
culture. All cultures are equal but one of them (their own) is a damn sight less equal that the rest”
(Gellner 1985:2)
2. MODERNIZATION in TURKEY
Since the foundation of our country, people have experienced various political, sociological and
social events. While sometimes they faced with political chaos and corruptions, sometimes they
faced with the crucial wars. In addition to this, the power groups in the society have wanted people
who are outside of this group, to modernize and they have seen this desire as the same as
elaborating on west. From 1923 to present Turkish society have given several opportunities like a
train stopping at the station but while sometimes our people have got on the train, sometimes they
have missed the train. According to Gellner,
Thought of modernity as a distinctive from of social organization and culture. He considered
nationalism to be function of modernity. He did not believe that history, with its descriptive
and individualizing approach , could understand the modernity/ nationalism relationship.
(1964 : ch1)
Western culture that has a most effectively and creativity resisted that promotes logic of closure. We
see in western history the rupture of this closure and questioning of everything such as institutions,
symbols, beliefs and values. In addition, western defined to Orient east, virgin, uneducated and
primitive. Enlightened as west, benighted as east are defined. According to Said,
Without examining Orientalism as a discourse one can not possibily understand the
enourmously systematic discipline by which European culture was able to manage – and
even produse- the Orient politically, sociologically , militarily, ideologically, scientifically
and imaginatively during the post- Enlightenment period. Moreover, so authoritative a
position did Orientalism have that I believe no one writing, thinking or acting on the Orient

5. could do so without taking account of the limitations on throught and action imposed by
Orientalism. (1985:3)
When we consider Turkey which has been like a bridge between western and eastern civilizations
for centuries, it is possible to see the traces of different civilizations on our country. In the western
part of Turkey, we can observe the western modernity, on the other side the properties of orientalism
can be easily seen in the eastern part of Turkey. The focus power in our society has been shaped as
themselves and the others in according with the mind of some bureaucrats and a certain number of
political elites. That is to say the cities and people located in the western part of our country are
described as modern; the others who live in the eastern part of the country are described as not
modern.
3. NATIONALISM and CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
When we look at the general characteristic features of Turkish society, it is obvious that they are
aware of their traditions and they adhere to their national identities strongly. That makes them a
nation of traditional. Gellner insist that,
nation and nationalism are not natural because they are not a permenant feature of the
human condition but came into being with the transition to industrialism. Neither are they
arbitrary, in the sense of being accidental or avoidable; they are have a close, almost
necessary , link with industrialism. Indeed , this is what makes them appear natural to the
members of industrial society and it id that 'naturalness' which gives nationalism its
power.(1983: 23)
Mass media sometimes can use the power which has in this way. To give example, in the media, it
is rarely be encountered news and discourses which are against to generally accepted jurisdiction of
the Turkish community. At the same time in the media, we can witness the big organization
including nationalist discourses for some special days. According to Çınar” building of nation state
involves the drawing of both material and metaphorical boundaries, including territorial, national ,
ethnic, racial , cultural and religious boundaries” (2005: 34)
To be played Atatürk into the commercial of Anatolian Insurance Company, which can be a good

6. example for nationalist commercial, destroy the thought that the concept of Kemalist (adherent of
Atatürk’s policy) started to be forgotten. The concepts of nationalism are sometimes used as an
object in the media. For example; the slogan of Cumhuriyet newspaper “ let’s take care of our
republic”. Actually by means of this slogan the Cumhuriyet Newspaper intend to increase its
circulation by using power of nationalist nature of Turkish people.
4. IMAGINED COMMUNITIES
Even the incidents occurred in a small village in the film express the view that people in this small
village are essentially as the same as people who live in the modern cities; they live different lives,
they themselves are sheltering more than one community. We remind the concept of imagined
communities in the sociology of communication by means of this direction. In addition to this like
the speech of Anderson the dreamed of isolation is limited, because it is said that there are always
designated boundaries among all neighboring countries. According to Anderson,
Things would be easier if it is seen as belonging to the same family as 'kindship' or 'religion';
hence his definition of the nation as ' an imagined political community – and imagined as
both inherently limited sovereign '. It is imagined because 'the members of even the smallest
nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them , yet
in the minds of each lives the image of their communion. (1991:6-7)
In a scene of the movie the president Nazmi ( Altan Erkekli; 1.08 sec.) says; foreigners coming here
always ask us this question: how do you live here, why do you love here? It is difficult to answer.
Why do people love their countries? To be inspired by the words of writer of Radikal newspaper
Nuray Mert. According to her:
…apart from this thesis many arguments about the foundation of nations and nationalism
exist. Anderson’s imaginary communities can be put in the category of modernist theories. In these
theories nations are products of social communication and they belong to the requirements of
modernity. Some philosopher like Geertz and Isaacs claim that in the emergence of the concept of
nation some natural data exists before modernity and each individual is inherited some things
unintentionally (skin color, body, language, faith etc.) and they also argue that fictional in the nation
remains extremely marginal. On the other hand some philosopher like Barth thinks that nation is
composed to reach for any other purposes. According to the only thing describing a nation is its
borders and it is not only a geographical border but also it is a border of identity. The question “who
is from us or not” is dynamic. Answers to this question vary horizontally (in geography) and
vertically (in time). Armstrong making the best synthesis of these three theoretical frameworks

7. applies progressive theory to nation. According to him, nation exists before the nationalism but
nationalism is the process of being aware of nation.
5. ANALYSIS OF VİZONTELE
It was written by Yılmaz Erdoğan and shot by Yılmaz Erdoğan and Ömer Faruk Sorak. The film
problematises the experiences of modernization in Eastern region of Turkey in 1970s. In this movie,
in eastern region of our country which participated in the process of modernization very late
people’s first encounter with television and various problems of this encounter was sometimes
reflected by different scenes that sometimes make people laugh and sometimes make them think
and cry.
In the movie there are a lot of people living in a small village but many of them have different lives
from each other.
On the first scene; leading role player Yılmaz Erdoğan is seen as character Emin. Emin is one of the
most remarkable characters in this village. He maintains a life style that is different from the
standards and conditions of the village. This character trying to improve himself can be considered
as the closest and susceptible person to modernization. Being different from people of society make
Emin odd and mad, also he becomes the rest in the eyes of people. As Çınar claims that,
the state carries out these self -constitutive task by tightly monitoring and controlling the
formation the national public sphere. It is also in this public sphere that the contestations of
official national ideology are carried out and alternative national identities emerge. It is in
this field of contending national subject comes into being in the public sphere.( 2005: 34 )
There is only one cinema hall in the village, and for people of this village it is the greatest means to
see the modern life. With cinema people start to take part in the concept of mass, because of that
they watch the same movies at the same time and so that they begin to have common ideas,
common topics to discuss. That is to say, the village has not enough information about the other
parts of the country and other people living in these areas. They only find opportunity to take
information about the lives in the other regions of the country from people who go outside of the
village under the pretext of military service or work. Cinema is the only place for them to face with
different perspectives which differ from their own point of view. In the 19th century cinema spread

8. the modernization and reflected the answers of such questions; how to be modern, how modern life
should be. Clothing styles of women in the cinema, their relationship with men, decorations of
places where people live, buildings, speaking styles and their accent (Ġstanbul accent) are actually
the symbol of how they modernized. In Vizontele Yılmaz Erdoğan reflected this phenomenon
successfully.
'Modernity' and 'cinema' are not sacred words to be used only in secret council among a holy
elite. They are invocations of our shared public lives together. After mechanization, after the
intermittent device that made possible the opening and closing of the camera's and
projector's apertures, after the widespread availability of electrical illumination (...)
modernity is in and around all of us ,and cinema embodies, reflects, and recharges that
modernity everywhere.( Pomerance, 2006:15)
In the movie, the cinema hall and its owner represent the monopolization. In addition to this,
cinema, which fills the leisure time of many people, brings them close together for a common
enjoyment. At soldier sendoff or by going to the cinema, people having no idea about each other
create the imaginary communities by coming together. As Anderson says that;
Nationality and nationalism are cultural artefacts of a particular kind. In order to understand
them properly , we need to find out how they have come into being, in what ways their
meanings have changed over time and why they command such profound emotional
legitimacy. Nationalism emerged towards the end of the eightteenth century as a result of the
'spontaneous distillaction of a complex “crossing” of discrete historical forces' and once
created,they became models which could be used in a great variety of social terrains, by a
correspondingly wide variety of ideologies (1991 [1983] :4)
Of course, with the emerging of television, it will take cinema’s place. Because the cinema is
composed by love, drama and accounts of daily life, on the other side on television people can
follow current topics, they can watch the news or instead of seeing the film characters they can also
meet other people. For a long time as the first and only television channel TRT (Turkish Radio
Television) had broadcast according to state’s ideology because of being the state’s monopoly.
However people communicate through megaphone in the town and they get in contact with outside
world through phone connected to an operator. Official culture is spreading through TRT.
By the middle of the 19th century, as the “modern” world took form numerous developments in
numerous places reflecting new ways of thinking about numerous aspects of human endeavor,

9. public illumination characterized every social change, marking, in a way, the artificiality and
limitless possibility of the photographic act and also the desire to move into unknown territories and
see the hitherto invisible, only imaginable, realities of life. (Pomerance, 2006: 11)
People come together in the center of the village to welcome the TRT council. President gives a
speech, sacrificial animals are prepared to be cut. All these incidents show us how respectful people
of village are to the council and its represented power.
Not only with their clothing styles but also with their speech styles they represent Ankara and the
state. The woman in the board who is arrogant, bareheaded, made-up, dapper is considered as a
modern woman by the citizens of the village. Mrs. Ġsmihal is the mistress of one of deputy
managers in TRT. She is sent to Van for a mission described by her as an exile. Here, upon the
people representing modernization and Europe the immorality of modernization is also emphasized
at the same time.
The reason for sending television to Van is the state’s efforts to establish his authority over people.
The state is in the war; to protect hierarchical system and the authority of state it owes an
explanation to families from each region of country whose children are taken from them for the
military services. How will the public accept the war? What kind of sacrifices will be wanted from
public and which routes will be followed to persuade them? As seen in the film there are easy ways
to achieve this goal; the cinema achieved by the citizens of the town with their own efforts is not
enough for them which feel forgotten and excluded or to solve the infrastructure problems of the
town and to support local administration. Television with its qualities is the most appropriate tool
for the state’s goals.
With coming of television instant communication with the world begins, they will have notice of
what is going on in the world as headman says. They try to modernize by means of television but it
is not enough. Television replacing the cinema is a great communication device to get information
about outside world. But they face with many problems in the process of installing television.
Whether with some unconscious thoughts or with dominant religious feelings they try to overcome

10. a lot of work. For instance, as in a scene of the movie in the conversations between Imam and Siti
Ana, by using religious feeling of Siti Ana, Imam tries to convince her that television is work of
devil so it should not come to their village.
During the founding years of the Turkish state such interventions served the establishment of
a modern, West - oriented public sphere where a modern national subject was created.
During the 1990s with the emergence of the new Islamic veiling in the public sphere, the
religious headscarf as a particular type of clothing served to destabilize the public – private
distinctions maintained and monitoring by the secularist gaze , forcing the negotiation of
alternative conceptualizations of the public and the private. (Çınar 2005 : 57)
For them the description of television is a radio including pictures. Because they have little contact
with the outside world, they believe or describe as true what they see on television, at the cinema
and in the newspaper. They have no chance to compare which one is real and true or wrong and
imagined, they are not inquisitive, judgemental, deliberative society. The reason for being forgotten
and excluded is the lack of effort to think about possibilities for going beyond the boundaries and is
not having enough desire to achieve it. Always they expect something to be done for them. They
don’t show any effort to improve themselves. They don’t compose any discourses, they don’t
questionize why they become excluded and they accept the imposed discourses. When we consider
the modern life, it is obvious that they remain far behind the west. With coming of television a new
cultural value is imposed in to the lives of village people. They are so unfamiliar with this culture
that when Zeki Müren is seen on television, they begin to question what to wear. Besides this, they
are already so distant and so foreign to technological instruments that the president doesn’t know
how to handle microphone when giving a speech. Also in the last minute of the movie there is a
scene which illustrates the cultural change; the time and place of people gathering change, their
only mutual interest becomes television. This also indicates the changes in our traditions with the
technology. At the wedding ceremonies people give television as a present instead of giving gold
and jewelry.
On the other hand, the Imam and owner of the cinema hall who can be considered as opinion
leaders of the village, try to restrict people’s freedom of information by increasing domestic

11. disorder, by making people believe that television is the tool of devil. For example in a section of
the movie Sati Ana learns his son’s dying a martyr from television. For believing inauspiciousness
of television from the beginning, she put the blame her son’s death on television. Emin comes to
house of Sati Ana as soon as he learns the death news. He tries to tell that television is not guilty but
he doesn’t convince her. Rıfat is under the ground so that television has to be under the ground. Sati
Ana and Emin climb on a hill and burry the television. Actually it is the state and modernity to be
buried not television because television belongs to the state and represents modernity. Moreover it
can be mentioned about imaginary community; for instance, the Imam and owner of the cinema hall
are not sincere but they come together because of that they don’t keep pace with television in other
words modernity. For Anderson
'imagining' does not 'falsity'.(...) There are 'real' communities which can be advantageously
compared to nations. In fact, however, all communities larger than small villages of face-to -
face contact (perhaps even these) are imagined. Communities should not be distinguished by
their falsity/ genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined. (1991:6)
Conclusion
To sum up; in the analysis of Vizontele by Yılmaz ERDOĞAN in which we tried to examine the
efforts to modernize in 1970s Turkey, we have seen once more that communication includes
important sociological and ideological concepts. We saw in this movie analysis once more how
much the sociological and ideological concepts, which are part of communication, take place in real
life even though it is not known and we tried to describe what we examined. In this movie
(Vizontele) it can be seen clearly that how the modernization like a bolt from the blue was taken to
the citizens via the state and how people reacted the movements of modernization. In the
sociological and ideological concepts we have seen include general concepts of communication
sociology like modernism, modernization efforts, nationalism, discourse, west and the rest.

12. References:
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