Ortaoyunundan Modern Tiyatroya Ünanimist Anlayışla Uzanmak: Ahmet Kutsi Tecer’in Köşebaşı Adlı Piyesi
Reaching from Ortaoyunu to Modern Theater With a Unanimist Approach: Ahmet Kutsi Tecer’s Drama Titled Köşebaşı

Summary/Abstract: Ahmet Kutsi Tecer’s drama called Köşebaşı, in which he successfully adapted the elements he inherited from ortaoyunu to the modern play technique, is considered one of the most important stages in the history of Turkish theater. The play, which exemplifies the techniques, motifs and types of the deep-rooted tradition of contemplation produced by Turkish folk culture, deals with the neighborhood called Rüstempaşa, in its own organic integrity, in which the twenty-four-hour life is narrated. The communal integrity of the neighborhood makes it possible to approach the work within the framework of the unanimist understanding developed by Jules Romains. The representation of unanimism in Köşebaşı, which aims to portray the collective spirit of the community, contains an original composition that reconciles the tradition of the ortaoyunu and modern theater. It is possible to argue that the political and ideological conjuncture of the period played a role in the creation of this composition as much as literary and aesthetic needs. From this perspective, Köşebaşı has a historical significance as it legitimizes a discourse that reconciles with the modern nation-building ideal of the early Republican period. The need to articulate with the modernization process by leaning on tradition is the main motive that shapes the technical and thematic background of the play. The unanimist approach in the work is a natural reflection of this modernization experience. This reflection makes the work one of the most typical representations of the transition from the ortaoyunu to the modern play technique. There is no analysis that aims to determine the nature of the effect in question through detailed analysis. This study examines in detail how the elements of the ortaoyunu in Köşebaşı are adapted to modern play technique and contemporary social reality, and determines the extent and contexts in which traditional Turkish theater is utilized in the organization of the formal and thematic structure of the work.

• Details
• Contents