Automobile And Selfhood: Car Narratives In Turkish Literature

The automobile that entered into the Turkish novel with Recaizâde Mahmut Ekrem's Car Affairs, in one respect, is one of the status determinant in traditional Turkish culture that has taken part instead of horse. The automobiles power is still measured as horse power which has close psycho-cultural ties with the discourse of 'horse, woman and the gun', that is considerable code of traditional Turkish culture. Thinking its accreditation of capacity of speed performance it can be stressed that automobiles have changeable genders depending on men and women. When producing new models, car designator’s inspiration is greatly feminity and body of women. Becoming one of the attractive ways of self realization of individuals, the automobile, protects us against lack of confidence of the external, presents individuals a lot of opportunities. Automobile’s attractiveness comes from its power to provide many possibilities of supremacy over pedestrian way of life as well as gigantic prosperous life style. The reflections of this important device of modern world seems in the Turkish literature parallel with social life. In Yellow Tractor by Talip Apaydın, Slender Rose of my Thought by Adalet Ağaoğlu, “The Clown Ruşen” by Sevim Burak and Icy Swords by Latife Tekin narration can be mentioned a focus on human technology relation as a social fact. “The Cold” by Ömer Seyfettin, “The Spare Part of Civilization” by Aziz Nesin, and “Jaguar” by Peride Celâl focuses on Otomobil Ve Benlik: Türk Edebiyatında Araba Olgusu 1429