I’ve been watching a Turkish TV show picked up by Netflix, titled (in English) Resurrection: Ertugrul. It is set in the year 1225, in the Near East. The protagonist (putatively) is the father of the first recorded Ottoman sultan, and thus the founder of that dynasty, depicted (in the first two seasons) before he has sired that future emperor. The show presents a historical romance. with sword fights, castles, warriors charging on horses, nomad tents, pretty woman in period costumes, beautiful wilderness scenery, ancient walled cities, yada yada. It’s loosely based on a key moment in Ottoman history. First Crusaders, and then Mongols, provide the villains.
Initially I was convinced that the English title was a mistranslation; I mean, resurrection is a quintessentially Christian idea, is it not? And Dirilis: Ertugrul is not at all a Christian show. But I tried translating through a third language, and no matter by what route, Turkish Dirilis always came back as resurrection—not resurgence, recompense, recovery, renewal or any such cognate. Perhaps titling this very Islamic film series as Dirilis, with all its klang Christian associations, was a deliberate choice? So begins my deconstruction.
Let me explain my fascination with this show (I’ve finished the ~180 episodes of Seasons 1 & 2 as this is written). First, when sitting down in the late evening to watch TV, I’m a sucker for swords, castles, manly men on galloping horses, beautiful maidens in historical dress, etc. I’d start viewing any such show that appeared on my Netflix feed.
Second, I’m not a binge watcher; rather, I titrate my viewing. Happiness is the discovery of a new show, with dozens of episodes, that I can watch, one per day, day after day, week after week, for a month or two or three. Sadness is the last episode, when I have to go in search of a new fix. Agony is the last episode of a show with Season 1 only, knowing there will be more on Netflix, but not for a while (Dark Matter, and Lost Kingdom, as cases in point).
Imagine my pleasure when I saw that Season 1 of Resurrection: Ertugrul was said to have 70+ episodes!
Third, subtitles are not in any way a turn off. Net of understanding, I can probably read faster than I can listen (yah, age-related hearing decay to boot). And hey, I was a professor for thirty years.
But none of that explains how I got hooked on Ertugrul. That hook was set in the first episode. After a perhaps too long prologue, Knights wearing chain mail with red Crusader crosses get into a fight, with sword, knife, bow and arrow, against a bunch of swarthy bearded guys, wielding curved swords.
Now under Hollywood rules, the expected outcome of any fight between Christian knights and swarthy bearded fellows is pre-ordained: the Christian knights, after enough sword play to keep it interesting, will cut down the foreigners and emerge victorious.
But no: this is a Turkish film aimed at an Islamic audience. Instead, the bearded wielders of curved swords prevail: they cut down the Crusader knights, especially the one loosening his belt, seemingly preparing to violate the poor defenseless teenage girl who had tried to escape (she’s later revealed to be a princess, natch).
Definition of Deconstruction
Deconstruction, considered as an intellectual methodology, and as it was explained to me by the late Barbara Stern, consists in taking some meme, mytheme, genre, type case, cliché, idee fixe, or any such established cultural currency, and performing an artfully chosen substitution. The goal of such deconstruction is to illuminate hidden cultural preconceptions, tacit assumptions, and unvoiced expectations.
One of the simplest applications of deconstruction is to swap genders and assess the effect. Here is the crudest example I could devise:
- He loomed over her, hand raised. She cowered in fear.
Talk about clichés! That formulation is on the same literary level as “It was a dark and stormy night.” But by the same token, it is utterly ordinary, and would excite no comment in any pulp fiction context.
Here’s the deconstruction:
- She loomed over him, hand raised. He shrunk back in fear.
That second sentence just sounds wrong. “She” never looms over; that’s something “he” does. “He” never cowers in front of “she;” that’s something we expect a “she” to do when confronted by an [expectedly violent] “he.”
Deconstruction proceeds by such artful substitutions. The goal is cognitive freedom: to drop the veil from our eyes, by means of seeing our preconceptions challenged, enabling us to set them aside. In the example, we see that physical violence, in our culture, is given a male sign. So confronted, we can decide whether to believe, to accept as an ontological postulate, that physical violence belongs to males, while it is forbidden to, or absent from, females. I mean, really?
Deconstruction: Ertugrul
Let’s be brutally frank: this television series was fielded by the government-run television channel in Turkey, and met with approval from the increasingly oppressive government apparatus there. It’s been a wild success in Turkey and across the Middle East (evidently, the Turkish film industry is to the Islamic world what Hollywood is to the US, or what Bollywood is to the Subcontinent).
It has a heavily-inflected propaganda element. In this video universe, the Turks are noble tribesmen, living simple virtuous lives, dedicated to Allah, strong and true. The Christians are Knights Templar, for centuries so easily demonized; the Mongols are depraved heathens; and the emirs of the Sultanate are corrupt agents of debauchery.
In terms of American cultural categories, think of it as a mashup of King Arthur and George Washington, with a dash of the Three Musketeers, and a soupçon of Shakespeare’s King Lear, leavened with a dose of Dostoevsky.
There’s also a strong soap opera element, in the rivalry and scheming of the women, and the importance of family uber alles.
I hope this motivates you to watch it; I’ve found it both entertaining and educational.
But let me be frank: it will never win any Oscars or Emmys for casting or acting. It can be s-l-o-o-w-w. It takes dozens of episodes before the male and female romantic leads even touch hands. And characters will occasionally violate Acting 101 (or maybe Playwriting 101) by committing completely unmotivated actions. Moreover, the resident sage, Ibn Arabi, bloviates in the most marvelously obscure way. And the English subtitles can be risibly bad (Turkish is not an Indo-European language, and some concepts just do not seem to translate)
Plus, you have to put up with endless repetitions of Inshallah! and Allahu Akbar! But that’s part of the deconstruction, for Christian Westerners: to watch adherents of a foreign religion pray and worship unconsciously. You, the Christian Western viewer, will never watch a medieval church scene in quite the same way again; nor will you ever find a Hollywood portrayal of Muslims praying to be quite so natural or right, ever again, after watching this show.
And you may reflect long and hard on why treachery within the nomad tent is such a pervasive theme, here in this thoroughly Turkish and Islamic cultural product. And in the world? Hmmm.
But the beheadings are marvelous; as are the headdresses worn by the women. Lots of leather too, and more glorious male hair and bosky beard than even a heavy metal rock band.
Come to think of it, a little back and forth viewing of Game of Thrones, with Resurrection-Ertugrul, might pay dividends. The one Pagan and profane, the other Devout and traditional, but both Medieval to the core.
Onward, cultural understanding!
Postscript (9/17/2019)
Season 3 and 4 of Ertugrul came up on Netflix in Spring of 2019. I’ve now completed watching Season 3 and a dozen episodes of Season 4. I’m told season 5 is in production.
My first point: this show remains very satisfying to watch. It still fills my need for titrated binge watching, one or two episodes an evening, day after day after day. Or in the case of Ertugrul, month after month after month.
[Notice: No spoilers below]
Second point: they’ve made this show better, more engaging, faster-paced. The male lead has been given a wig with a pigtail. It works: Ertugrul looks that much more a warlord, and the actor is believable in the role. He rules. He’s on a mission from God. Terrible is his wrath, tender his mercy.
The mix of barbarian splendor and soap opera intrigue continues, to good effect. Bosky men now wear elaborate armor in most scenes, even in the tent. Villains are villainous, traitors contemptible. Lovely maidens in elaborate headdresses must be won or rescued. New villains and new traitors must be fought.
Once again, for the outside observer, not part of the Turkish nation, and not bound to their myth, the emphasis on treachery within the tent is even more noticeable. Yes there are enemies without, now more Byzantine than Templar; but always, there is treachery within the tribe, always treachery on the part of the trusted, poisoning, betrayal of blood and nation.
I do not think this theme of betrayal by the trusted is as prominent in Sophocles or Shakespeare, Dickens or Dickinson. Inevitable doom, cruel fate, blindness to self, downfall through ignorance, hopeless love, love lost, foolish choices, evil waxing large because the best lack all conviction—all are prominent in Western literature.
But the betrayal by the trusted, the persistent plotting in the background never discovered until (almost) too late, the near success of the traitors, until (here in Turkish Hollywood) the hero finally prevails—this seems to me to be specific to Turkish myth, to Turkish national character. Or is this theme more generally mid-Eastern rather than Turkish-specific? I lack the anthropology-sociology-history background to say. But I can feel the gap between my Western myth expectations, and those on offer in Ertugrul.
So as before, great video drama, in the medieval, castle, sword, armor, galloping horse, princess-in-peril mode, with cross-cultural insights on offer as well.
Very satisfying! I’m on it until the end of Season 4, and beyond.
Awesome show. I concur with your analysis.
Extraordinary show Epic!! Ertugrul fights for justice all his life. You see respect for ederlies children friends families He teaches how to face life with faith and hope
AMAZING!!!
I love Ertugrul , handsome & great warrior. He has noble principles in life. I’m hooked w/ the show & watching it all day & night. I ‘d just want to see the ending but had to watch 100 + episodes.
Ah, but that’s part of the value: Ertugrul goes on and on and on, dozens and dozens of episodes. Which means, at one show per evening, I can watch it for months and months, and live in that world, over and over. Enjoy!
I am watching the show now as well. Only on episode 14 season 1. I am amazed at the amount of episodes. I mean, this had to be govt funded and all that, just the shear amount of work it must have took to get this done. Did the math, all four seasons are 348 episodes long. Oh man, how will i finish this before jack ryan starts! Anyways great show. Im probably going to lose my mind trying to binge watch this. Lol
I understand it is from the Turkish equivalent of BBC. Keep going through the occasional slow episode, I’m most of the way through season 3 now, and they do succeed in keeping the plot going, villain after villain. Sooner or later you’ll run into an episode where they end on a cliff hanger, causing me to break my rule and watch two episodes rather than one!
I am hooked on all the Turkish dramas and romances. Now, I am watching Ressurrection and just love it.
Great actors ! I still have 4 more seasons coming up.
I will be enjoying every minute.
I’m well into season 4 and am happy to tell you that if you like it now, you’ll like it even more as the seasons progress. The actors get even better
We found this series and watched at first for the swashbuckling , heroic characters and historic dúctil mostly because we love that genre. Found it fascinating the Islamic point of view that also intertwined with real glimpses of real Turkish and Seljuk history and of course . We binged watch many episodes because I just couldn’t Turn it off sometimes because of the Cliff hangers , I personally found it addicting . Great acting by the principle characters so much so that I really Grew to Despise most of the Kayi’s enemies .
However , xxx[spoiler removed]xxx As such I was. Very Hesitant to start the 5th season ; Yes there will be a 5th season , with new characters , some of which you may Not like either
Or want to accept as part of this story . BUT … if you Love Ertugrul’’s character , or his Brother Alps, his Mother and Children , then you probably will Cut the writer’s some slack for how they had to take some literary and historical changes . I’m hoping they do make a 6th season xxx[spoiler removed]xxx .
I’m sorry for the delay in approving your comment. It appeared on my initial scan to contain a spoiler, which I didn’t want to disturb my viewing. Only now that I’ve passed that point in the series could I edit your comment to remove the spoiler. Else, I welcome your comment and hope that you continue to enjoy the show. I’m on to Season 5, but not very far in.
Really fun to watch—I was recovering from severe back issues and found it brightened my time—definitely interesting to view from a different background but not too different from the old cowboys and Indians—interestingly some vile characters find new paths—and crosses and double crosses abound
Excellent narrative of The Resurrection. At a times I found it very repetitive, however entertaining. Thank you!
Agreed–the show is far from perfect, with s-l-o-o-o-w stretches. And the “perils of Pauline” aspect–Ertugrul is repeatedly rescued in the nick of time–wears a bit. But it kept me going through almost 500 episodes …
Eu amo, Fiquei viciada, assisto às vezes 6,7 ep. seguidos. Já fui dormir 2x às 5 da manhã assistindo. Mto bom! Melhor série q já assisti até hj. Olha q acompanhei Game of thrones, já assisti the witcher, mas nada se compara a ela. Atores e atrizes maravilhosos. alguns lindíssimos. Eu amo Ertugrul.
I can only read Portuguese to the extent it tracks Francais, but it appears we both enjoy Ertugrul. I also enjoyed Witcher, and look forward to more seasons of it. I get some sense that Ertugrul will be continued by a series starring his son, in a sort of season 6; we shall see.
I find the traitor Iago in Othello closest to the traitors in Ertuğrul. Jealousy is a powerful motivator.
The theme of betrayal of kin, country, and faith for worldly gain rebounds throughout Middle East and Islamic history.
Certainly treachery is an element in many dramas across cultures. What was interesting to me as a typical Westerner was how central treachery was to so many Ertugrul story lines. Rather than (sexual) jealousy, it seemed most often to be a lust for power and position: to be the chief of the tribe and clan.
Interesting show and since no one around me is watching it; it’s nice to get to talk about it with someone. Its certainly interesting and for someone who likes Islamic lore and history, medieval politics and war fare it’s lovely. Without being too extremist religious, it was clear they were trying to buy minds and you can’t help seeing they will succeed on the very gullible who like romanticised stories. But for people like us exposed to so many perspectives of life, they did a great job but fell short in that quest. Many ‘very subtle’ mannerism that grew and grew with the excellent plot and character development points to intolerance (no matter how it’s cloaked, lol)and conquest, a thirst for conquest that I cannot by the way, begrudge them. But the Ertugrul from season 1 isn’t the exact same in Season 4. He grew in power and with it, naturally thirst for conquest; “We Turks possess anywhere we step on, inshallah”, mentioned many times and I’m sure geared towards present Day youths (to remind them of pride in the days of yore and perhaps something more sinister?), it was fun to watch the propaganda , it would have also been fun to see the scenes cut off or censored by the national board (if any). Ibn Arabi (the Sufi mystic dervish who travels with no weapons in a very dangerous area and era) spends so much time trying to convert the viewers, he became too loquacious at a point and I had to fast forward his scenes, lol. Thank God for the back and forth buttons on Netflix. Another interesting thing was how they would always justify a conquest with the evil from the other side. Ertugrul, a very pious harmless but Valient warrior arrives in a place hoping to better his nomad tent legally but enemies want to manipulate him and kill his men, in trying to ward them off, he ends up killing them and inheriting their goods and property he didn’t raise one stone to build and this is the will of God. The End. Lol. They had to be conscientious to ensure the sympathy of non-Muslim or non-Turkish viewers who end up justifying it and of course you find yourself rooting for them.
Maybe later, you and I can discuss many other interesting themes. I also found the food appetising and it’s so painful to watch when you’re hungry. Lol
Pls try King’s War on Netflix. It’s Chinese and battles, pre medieval war fare, swashbuckling fighters and very psychological. I’d recommend it anywhere.
Cheers
Season 1 and 2 are fun .(and interesting ) I enjoyed all characters especially how women were portrayed. Hayme Hatun is great. But, season 3 definitely changed tact. Writing more obtuse, and the shift in making E more authoritative was irritating and felt very manipulative. Kept thinking Suleman Shah would not approve. Hoping it settles down. Miss the goofy music.
I enjoyed it all the way through season 5, but the shift you saw in season 3 is permanent, I’m afraid.
Great analysis on the show. What are your thoughts on Netflix cancelling due to rumors of being threatened by Eastern cultural/religious influences?
That would be a shame!