Literature and change: early short stories of Osman Şahin

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1307392 (Table of Contents)

Author Osman Şahin begun his literary production by publishing four short story collections of the genre known as "Village Literature" between 1970 and 1983. The short stories in these books displayed characteristics that were not present in his later works. They were similar to parables in their form, however a majority of them lacked resolutions specific to the classic genre. This thesis compares and contrasts this aspect of Şahin's literature with both his later works and works by other authors of "Village Literature". In order to grasp the nature of his works, they are evaluated within the author's biographical background as well as their thematic structure. Certain paradoxes depicted in these works add to the understanding of their content. By further discussing these parable-like stories within the scope of Georges Bataille's concept of "sovereignty" and Martin Heidegger's conceptualization of "technology", the significance of this form was observed to be a testimony to the change the world of the villagers in Turkey went through. The clash between the feudal and modern was reflected in their understandings of sovereignty and their relationship to technology. As a conclusion, the difference of the parable-like stories of Şahin from the classic parables is claimed to be a radical way to express the transition from one world of meaning to another.