Yaşar Kemal ve George Orwell’in Romanlarında Distopya
Dystopia in the Novels of Yaşar Kemal and George Orwell

Summary/Abstract: the 20th century, as a result of the advancement of technology, mechanization, world wars and economic crises, the “dystopia” tradition met with the reader in literature in the post-modern period. The purpose of dystopian novels, set in an undesirable world, is to warn readers against possible dangers and to criticize the disorders in the current system. The aim of dystopian works, which include topics such as political corruption, the effects of oppressive regimes on the individual, the reflections of technological development in the totalitarian regime, and the importance of collective consciousness, is to shake the reader with frightening scenarios and make them question the current order. However, behind the dark picture painted, in most dystopian works, there are revolutionary individuals who can oppose the despotic government, and they are hope for the readers. In this study, a comparative analysis of dystopian novels from different cultures was made in terms of the content and theme of social criticism in order to prove the universality of the dystopian tradition. Within this context, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the most important dystopia of the Western literature, and Yaşar Kemal’s Filler Sultanı ile Kırmızı Sakallı Topal Karınca, an example of dystopia in Turkish literature, were examined. As a result of the comparative analysis, it was concluded that although Orwell and Kemal’s works reflect different cultures, they contain common motifs in order to criticize the current order and portray the ideal society. Orwell and Kemal criticize the characters in their dystopias who oppress the people, monitor them through propaganda and mass media, thereby erasing individuals’ languages, histories, values, and identities, and assimilating people by turning them against each other.

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