THE TRAGEDY OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SPIRAL OF FEAR AND VIOLENCE IN YAŞAR KEMAL’S KIMSECIK NOVEL SERIES - Abstract

Sep 22, 2026

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Purpose: Through Yaşar Kemal’s novel Kimsecik, the study analyzes fear and violence from social, historical, and psychological perspectives. The research situates the narrative within a 15-year span from the Sarıkamış defeat in 1915 to the 1930s, linking war, poverty, migration, and Turkey’s evolving political context. Method: Character analysis addresses psychological, sociological, and historical realities, emphasizing how a child’s imagination makes social fears comprehensible. Results and conclusion highlight enduring hope and resistance against oppression and death, arguing that overcoming fear can break the cycle of violence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time39 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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THE TRAGEDY OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SPIRAL OF FEAR AND VIOLENCE IN YAŞAR KEMAL’S KIMSECIK NOVEL SERIES aNurullah Ulutaş, Erdem Baykal b ABSTRACT Purpose: In this study, through the novel Kimsecik, our aim will be to make a social, historical and psychological analysis on fear and violence. Fundamentally, it is necessary to state that Yaşar Kemal’s novel reveals very different aspects of violence, such as war, the poverty and migration due to this poverty. It should also be noted that the content of the novel deals with a historical period. The content of the novel is the 15-year period from the Sarıkamış defeat in 1915 to the 1930s. So, we have the World War I, the foundation of the New Republic of Turkey after the Ottoman Empire and its early period. In this sense, basically, the article deals with the phenomenon of violence in relation to Turkey’s history. Through the eyes of a child, it also tries to reveal a feudal culture in which violence and fear are intertwined. There are also psychoanalytic references in the novel. The relationship between the character Salman and his father could be considered in this respect. Method: The method adopted in the article is basically the analysis of the novel’s characters; their psychological, sociological and historical realities are considered. Especially, through a child, we could understand better the social and psychological aspects of fear, because, the child experiences the fears brought about by social problems. But also, making them more accessible and meaningful with imagination. The child not only reflects the fear but through his imagination makes it more and more understandable and interpretable. In summary, we became the witnesses of a child’s approach to the concepts of violence and fear and a widowed woman’s struggle to live in society and survive the oppression and harassment applied to her. Behind of all this, we can see the poor Anatolian people’s financial difficulties, struggle with epidemics, exploiting each other, their cunning, their respect and fear of state power. Results and Conclusion: Despite the fear and violence, we see that hope and imagination are never lost. Despite the intensity of oppression and death, the characters’ struggle against it stands out.Yaşar Kemal’s novel, which is in the socialist realist line, also expresses the desire to be free from violence and fear, because these two work together and fear can make a person do anything. In a way, if fear is overcome, the cycle of violence and fear could be broken. Implications of research: if we remember that the novel is also an autobiography, it will be possible to find the roots of the formation of Yaşar Kemal’s thought; an idea of resistance against fear and violence. Ultimately, it will be possible to see the political perspective at the root of Yaşar Kemal’s novel and the origin of his imagination. Originality/value: The article also shows Yaşar Kemal’s world of thought. Violence and fear are in a way the main themes of all his novels. Moreover, especially Yaşar Kemal’s dream of a world a Prof. Dr., Bitlis Eren University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Turkish Language and Literature, Turkey. E-mail: nurullahulutas@gmail.com Orcid: [https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1447-3736](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1447-3736)[ ](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1447-3736)b Assistant Prof., Bitlis Eren University, Islamic Scince Faculty, Turkey. E-mail: baykal_erdem@hotmail.com Orcid: [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6105-5791](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6105-5791) without violence remains as a hope. This hope of the children in the novel continues in Yaşar Kemal himself. Keywords: Yaşar Kemal, social realism, Kimsecik, fear, violence. Received: 09/02/2024 Accepted: 11/01/2024 DOI: [https://doi.org/10.55908/sdgs.v12i12.4123](https://doi.org/10.55908/sdgs.v12i12.4123) A TRAGÉDIA DAS PESSOAS QUE VIVEM NA ESPIRAL DO MEDO E DA VIOLÊNCIA NA SÉRIE DE NOVELAS KIMSECIK DE YAŞAR KEM

FAQs

What does the study aim to analyze in Kimsecik?

It aims to conduct a social, historical, and psychological analysis of fear and violence in Yaşar Kemal’s Kimsecik.

Which historical period does the article focus on?

The content is framed as a 15-year period from the Sarıkamış defeat in 1915 to the 1930s, covering World War I and the early Turkish Republic.

How are fear and violence understood through the novel’s characters?

Through a child’s perspective and psychoanalytic references, the study shows how fear and violence intertwine with social problems, feudal culture, and oppression—while emphasizing hope and imagination as ongoing forces.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Finn