Truth, Power, and the Body: A Sociological Analysis of Heretic (2024)

Authors : Nuriye Çelik

Pages : 499-521

Doi:10.47951/mediad.1789894

View : 56 | Download : 129

Publication Date : 2025-12-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article offers a sociological analysis of Heretic (2024) by examining how the film reproduces relations of truth, belief, and power in the post-truth era. Drawing on Foucault’s concepts of governmentality and truth regimes, Butler’s idea of performativity, and Baudrillard’s notion of hyperreality, the study analyzes the film’s representational strategies. Using qualitative discourse analysis and scene-based thematic coding, the findings are organized around four axes: (1) religious discourses are constructed as technologies of power; (2) truth is suspended through simulation and layers of representation; (3) the female body is governed through disciplinary and control practices; and (4) ethical resistance emerges through collective subjectivity and orientation toward the Other. The study argues that Heretic is not merely a thriller but a cultural text that exposes the fragility of truth, the politics of the body, and the possibilities of ethical subjectivation in a post-truth context. The significance of the study lies in its theoretical and analytical contribution to the fields of cinema and media sociology. Methodologically, the study employs a critical-interpretive design that combines qualitative discourse analysis, thematic coding, and scene-by-scene transcription. Codes were operationalized with clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, and analytic transparency was maintained in line with JARS-Qual standards. This approach ensures not only theoretical depth but also replicability for future research in media sociology. The findings reveal four central dynamics: (1) religious discourse operates as a technology of power that governs the subject; (2) truth is suspended through simulation and hyperreality, producing aestheticized effects of belief; (3) the female body emerges as a contested site of discipline and resistance; and (4) ethical alternatives are forged through solidarity and orientation toward the Other. Collectively, these insights demonstrate that Heretic functions as more than a thriller: it is a cultural text that exposes the fragility of truth, the politics of embodiment, and the possibilities of ethical subjectivation in the contemporary post-truth landscape.
Keywords : Söylem Analizi, İdeoloji, Dinsel Temsil, Hipergerçeklik, İktidar ve Özneleşme

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