Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11693/115676

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Open Access
Shifting attitudes: the impact of foreign elite cues on Turkish public opinion toward the US
(2026-05) Aşık, Yağmur
This thesis examines the conditions under which Turkish public opinion changes toward the United States by focusing on the role of positive foreign elite cues as part of a public diplomacy advocacy strategy. Using a survey experiment conducted at Bilkent University, it tests how US foreign elites’ positive statements about Türkiye influence Turkish attitudes toward the US across high and low politics issues through randomized text assignment. The experiment measures pre and post-treatment opinions, allowing the evaluation of whether US public diplomacy advocacy efforts and elite cues can alter public attitudes positively as an immediate impact. The study also investigates how individuals’ political knowledge and external political efficacy levels moderate this relationship, revealing why some are more susceptible to influence than others. By integrating elite cue theory, public diplomacy, and opinion change literature, this research contributes to understanding the dynamics between foreign elite cue impact as a part of public diplomacy efforts and the target country’s public. It also fills a gap in the literature on Turkish-American relations by linking foreign elite cues, foreign policy issue domains, and individual-level characteristics to opinion shifts, offering broader implications for understanding the effect of other variables on the short-term success of public diplomacy efforts in influencing public opinion to change positively.
Open Access
Gendered institutions and women’s representation in bureaucracy: a feminist institutionalist analysis of two ministries in Turkey
(2026-05) Fındık, Ayşenaz
This thesis examines women’s representation in bureaucracy and explores how formal rules and informal practices shape women’s access, experiences, and advancement within bureaucratic institutions. While the classical public administration literature often presents bureaucracy as a gender-neutral institution based on meritocratic recruitment and formal procedures, feminist institutionalist scholars argue the opposite, claiming that institutions are also shaped by gendered norms and informal practices. This study analyzes this by focusing on Turkey as an empirical context and explores women’s representation in two ministries with different institutional environments: the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Ministry of Trade. The research is based on twenty semi-structured interviews with women bureaucrats working in these institutions. The findings reveal that women’s entry into bureaucracy is often influenced by broader job-market insecurities, institutional stability, and family expectations that position public-sector jobs as secure and suitable for women. Additionally, women’s day-to-day experiences and chances for promotion are affected by informal networks, workplace expectations, gendered responsibilities for care, and masculine dynamics in institutions. These factors continue to shape bureaucratic life, even when official procedures claim to be merit-based. Comparing the two ministries highlights how different environments shape distinct forms of women’s representation and gendered experiences in bureaucracy. By exploring the relationship between formal and informal institutions, this thesis adds to the discussion on feminist institutionalism and women’s representation in bureaucracy. This study also enriches the literature on gender and bureaucracy in Turkey by investigating the institutional factors that shape women’s representation within the state bureaucracy.
Open Access
Ancestral norms: interpreting Magdalenian cannibalism through the social origins hypothesis of disgust
(2026-05) Temiz Dirice, Zeynep
Cannibalism, a practice that elicits intense disgust in contemporary cultures, has been observed in various contexts throughout history. Contrary to popular belief, it was not solely driven by survival instincts or nutritional needs; rather, it served significant symbolic functions for prehistoric societies. However, over time, cannibalism transitioned from a cultural practice to a cultural taboo, reflecting the transformation in social behaviors and human moral judgment. This dissertation delves into the evolution of culturally accepted behaviors into morally condemned practices over time, specifically focusing on the practice of ritual cannibalism. As the human experience of cannibalism is now characterized by profound disgust, which is an emotion that can be elicited by pathogen cues and norm violations, this research investigates disgust’s role in the emergence and maintenance of taboos. To establish the theoretical concept of disgust’s role in taboos, this dissertation centers on the Magdalenian culture of the Upper Palaeolithic. This culture is selected as a case study because the Magdalenian record clearly demonstrates a form of funerary cannibalism. The cessation of this practice occurred as their culture was diluted into other cultures. According to this archaeological evidence, I suggest that the abandonment of the practice was not just a cultural adaptation but was also influenced by the disgust response of other social groups. Therefore, disgust’s function can be considered beyond pathogen avoidance and extended to its role as a social regulator. Exploring this hypothesis facilitates the reconstruction of how social norms are reclassified and subsequently marginalized due to emotional responses.
Open Access
Prudential concern and relativism about personal identity
(2026-05) Öztürk, İnci
What does it mean to survive, and when is it rational to care about one’s own continued existence? Until we settle on a criterion of personal identity, we cannot assess what counts as survival, whether it is rational to care about it, and whether its annihilation is a fitting object of fear. A central notion in this discussion is future-directed prudential concern, specifically the anticipation that certain future experiences, goods, or losses will be one’s own. This concern presupposes some criterion by which a future subject or experience counts as me. If my future pain or deprivation is to matter to me now, it must stand in some relation to my present self. Thus, prudential concern functions as a bridge between metaphysics and practical reason. Competing views of personal identity structure this relation in different ways and thereby determine what counts as survival. To understand why and when prudential concern is rational, we must first understand how our metaphysical assumptions about the self make such concern intelligible in the first place. Drawing on Mark Johnston’s pluralism about the self (1989) and Theodore Sider’s semantic analysis of criteria of personal identity (2001), I argue that there is no single metaphysically privileged conception of personhood. Different conceptions of the self organise matters related to the self in distinct but internally valid ways. On this account, the rationality of the prudential concern becomes context-sensitive, depending on which conception of the self we adopt.
Open Access
A defense of Goodmanian irrealism about metaphysics
(2026-05) Özdemir, Sarp
Irrealism is the meta-metaphysical view that the world does not consist of a built-in inventory of features to which our categories can conform. Its leading proponent, Nelson Goodman, argues that (1) what we take to be the structure of the world is of our making, and (2) there are many equally viable but mutually incompatible ways of construing “what there is.” While currently unpopular, the position promises to resolve many ongoing problems in first-order metaphysics, so I ask whether the prevailing orthodoxy had good reasons for abandoning it. I survey the supposedly decisive objections to it (that it requires our paradoxical dependence on worldversions of our own making, that it implies we made our own past, that it either amounts to a form of idealism or cannot rule out some raw material onto which we impose our categories, and so on) and argue that none of them works as intended. The widespread dismissal of irrealism has therefore yet to be justified.
Embargo
An attention prediction model for the acoustic assessment of informal learning environments
(2026-05) Şahin Öztürk, Zekiye
This thesis mainly explores the effects of Room impulse response-based reverberation time, on attention control in socially active informal learning environments. The study answers two research questions, first one is about the effect of systematic changes in architectural surface absorptivity on room impulse response, second one is about the impact of T30 variations across different spatial typologies on attentional performance. The methodological framework followed four phases. First, three spatial typologies; single-height, double-height, and atrium-scale were modelled in SketchUp and acoustically simulated in ODEON. Eight controlled material configurations were created for each typology to produce different room impulse responses and T30 changes. Second, after convolving speech signals, impulse responses produced auralized sound environments. Third, participants completed attention control tasks in a variety of acoustic settings as part of a between-group controlled listening experiment. Lastly, behavioral data and acoustic parameters were combined and examined to evaluate the relationship between reverberation and attention. The results indicate that attentional performance with changes in reverberation time (T30) is not an increasing or decreasing linear function but an inverted U curve, with an optimum range of reverberation time at moderate levels (about 0.7–2.5). There is also a tendency for more consistent improvements with two-surface treatment than with single-surface or all-absorptive conditions, and performance is not significantly related to the total amount of absorption, as it is to the spatial distribution of absorption. The findings further suggest that cognitive workload influences how acoustic conditions affect attentional performance. In general, the study gives valuable insights on the effect of acoustics design on cognitive functioning and a framework for its inclusion in the design process of cognitively responsive architecture.
Open Access
Two senses of the amount of pain
(2026-05) Altın, Baran
This thesis distinguishes between two senses of the amount of pain: pain-intensity and the cardinal instances of pain. First, I define pain-intensity as the experiential severity of pain and is show it to be a non-decomposable quantity that can not be aggregated across persons. I then demonstrate the two senses of the amount of pain to be independent, not reconcilable in or reducible to a single unified measure. I examine the ethical implication of this distinction in cases where pain is taken to be the ethically relevant factor. I argue that in such cases it is the pain-intensity, not the cardinal instances of pain or any formulation between pain-intensity and cardinal instances of pain, that truly tracks the morally relevant factor of experienced pain. This leads to a non-aggregative consequentialist position, which I define and defend against some objections and paradoxes existing in the literature.
Open Access
Hate speech and political legitimacy: a defense of upstream laws
(2026-05) Arık, İlayda
Freedom of speech is a necessary condition for guarding democracy and individual liberties. However, hate speech causes social harm to the inclusivity of society, and harms the social status of vulnerable groups. Based on my definition of hate speech and my understanding that political legitimacy requires everyone’s equal participation and inclusion, I argue that hate speech causes political harm beyond its social harm by resulting in unequal representation and participation in politics. Based on Waldron’s distinction between upstream and downstream laws, I argue against Dworkin’s position that free speech is a necessary condition for the legitimacy of downstream laws, and argue that upstream laws are a necessary condition for the political legitimacy of downstream laws. I contend that this position is not vulnerable to the main objections, such as government overreach and counter-speech as an alternative solution.
Embargo
The effects of visual artwork complexities on visitor behavior in immersive virtual galleries
(2026-04) Görel, Bengisu
The study explored how visual salience, influenced by varying levels of visual complexity, affects visitors' attention and behavior in fully immersive virtual galleries. A between-subjects experimental design was used, involving a total of 136 participants who were randomly assigned to two groups. In the first condition (n = 68), participants viewed a visually complex abstract artwork among simple artworks, while the other group (n = 68) viewed a simple abstract artwork among complex artworks. Participants explored the virtual exhibitions using a head-mounted display, and their viewing behaviors, including viewing times and movement patterns, were recorded. The results indicated that the salient complex artwork attracted more attention when viewed among other predominantly simple artworks, whereas the simple salient artwork received less attention when surrounded by complex artworks. Additionally, artworks placed near the entrance, particularly on the right wall, received more attention, regardless of their complexity level. It was also found that the salient artwork did not significantly influence participants' judgments regarding visual complexity. Furthermore, visitors’ demographic characteristics played a role in engagement levels, with a higher interest in art predicting longer viewing times for the artworks. The discussion highlights the practical implications for curators, suggesting that strategically manipulating visual salience through contrasting levels of complexity can enhance visitor attention and improve exhibition design. The virtual gallery environment software developed for this study successfully replicated a real museum experience, allowed for the manipulation of environmental and experimental parameters, and accurately tracked visitor behavior, making it a valuable tool for understanding how curatorial decisions and exhibit characteristics impact visitors' aesthetic experiences.
Open Access
Glory to Motherland: Putin’s grand strategy
(2026-04) Güler, Mehmet Çağatay
The dissertation provides an original contribution to the grand strategy literature by exploring the debate on whether grand strategy is a principle or a pattern. First, it starts by asking how grand strategy works? In this context, Vladimir Putin is chosen as an example and it is scrutinized whether he has a grand strategy or not. Relatedly and a follow up, this study seeks to address if Putin has a grand strategy, then what kind of grand strategy does he have? Herein, it first detects Putin’s grand strategy and then examines the accounts of changes and continuities. Thus, it explores whether his objectives have remained consistent or whether his approach has evolved over time. To accomplish this, this dissertation utilizes computer-assisted data analysis, more particularly the computer-aided thematic analysis. Within this framework, the official transcripts of the president Vladimir Putin’s major speeches are elaborately collected. Also with an eclectic way, it incorporates comparative case study. Hereby, Putin’s discourse reveals that his grand strategy revolves around making Russia a center of influence and achieving a global power status. Hence, reversing the Russian weakness experienced during the 1990s and establishing strong, modern, and prosperous Russia. In short, bringing glory to the Motherland. Moreover, this study puts forth that the fundamental principles of Putin’s grand strategy have remained constant (goals, means, and challenges), and herewith, his grand strategy is determined with regards to an overarching idea. Therefore, his grand strategy works more like a grand principle rather than a grand pattern.
Embargo
Public opinion and Turkey’s foreign policy turn in the 2010s
(2026-04) Artıkoğlu Uyguntürk, Aygül Laçin
Turkey’s foreign policy has undergone significant changes since the early 2010s. Once a staunch ally to Western powers in the Middle East, Turkey has pursued a rather independent and assertive foreign policy that has led to disagreements with Western allies and regional powers. This dissertation aims to determine whether this shift in Turkish foreign policy is related to the attitudes and policy preferences of the Turkish public. By analyzing original data from three nation-wide surveys conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the study provides a comprehensive analysis of public opinion on Turkey’s foreign policy shift. It also explores public preferences on different foreign policy orientations, use of force, Turkey’s foreign policy roles, and attitudes towards different powers and international organizations in detail. The study reveals that the Turkish public prefers a cautious and status-quo oriented foreign policy. Moreover, situated within the broader public opinion literature, this dissertation also evaluates key propositions of the Almond-Lippmann consensus. The findings suggest that public opinion is shaped by the available information, exhibits internal coherence, and can influence foreign policy decision-making.
Open Access
Walter of Orleans: a prelate of the ninth century
(2026-03) Kaya, Ahmet Alp
This thesis examines the episcopal career of Walter, bishop of Orléans between 867 and 892, and argues that his significance lay not merely in local ecclesiastical administration but in his active role within the political structures of late Carolingian Francia. By combining institutional, political, and administrative analysis, the study determines the place of Walter in the ninth-century Western Frankish political life. By carefully analysing his capitulary, which was promulgated in the second year of his tenure, this thesis tries to determine his effects on the administrative structure of the church of Orléans and the points where he parted his ways with his predecessors in the means of governing the Diocese, which was under his control. The second part situates Walter within the political landscape of Neustria. It examines his close association with Hugh the Abbot and his subsequent support for Odo, the first non-Carolingian king of West Francia. Through charter evidence, narrative sources, and episcopal correspondence, the thesis shows that Walter functioned as a political broker, facilitating alliances, legitimizing power transitions, and contributing to the consolidation of royal authority in and around Orléans.
Open Access
Decolonial claims and limits of civilizational thinking: family, community and society in contemporary Islamic intellectual field in Turkey
(2026-03) Murat, Fatma Nur
This thesis examines how the concept of civilization is mobilized within contemporary Islamic political thought in Turkey through the writings of three prominent public intellectuals, Lütfi Bergen, Cihan Aktaş, and Yusuf Kaplan. It asks how civilizational discourse is used to formulate claims about knowledge, morality, and collective order, and how these claims are carried into arguments about family, community, and society. The thesis is situated at the intersection of intellectual history, the study of civilization, contemporary Islamic political thought in Turkey, and decolonial critique. It approaches civilization as a discursive category and reads these figures as intellectual actors intervening in historically situated debates over the place of Islam in political thought, the terms of collective order, and the grounds on which political claims are made. The thesis uses decolonial thought as a conceptual toolbox for analyzing critiques of universalist claims associated with Western modernity, as well as attempts at epistemic reconstitution. It does not adopt decoloniality as a normative horizon, but uses it to trace the form, scope, and limits of decolonial impulses within this body of thought. Methodologically, the thesis is based on close textual analysis of books, essays, newspaper columns, and other published interventions by Bergen, Aktaş, and Kaplan.The thesis argues that the contemporary appeal of civilization lies in how the concept enables Muslim intellectuals in Turkey to reframe the relationship between Islam and political thought. The findings show that civilizational discourse operates as a mode of political theorizing that relocates the grounds of political thought in religiously authorized conceptions of knowledge, morality, and order, while producing new forms of hierarchy, epistemic closure, and exclusion.
Open Access
Multimodal prediction of psychotic-like experiences using Elastic Net modeling: external validation in a clinical sample
(2026-01) Arslan, Seda
Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) represent subtle expressions of vulnerability within the psychosis continuum. Although many studies suggest that these experiences arise from multimodal factors, research comprehensively examining these factors together remains scarce. This thesis examines how different aspects of a environmental exposures, cognitive schemas, and brain structure jointly associate with PLEs in young population. It also explores model’s ability to explain psychosis in a clinical group. After applying variable selection including generalized estimating equations, correlation filtering, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator model to 741 variables (i.e., environmental factors, cognitive appraisals, clinical variables, cognitive functioning, and structural brain connectome measures), obtained PLEs predictors (N=27) and covariates (i.e., age, sex, IQ) were included in the classification model based on Elastic Net algorithm for predicting high/low PLEs in 396 healthy participants aged 14-24 (Mage=19.72±2.5). We externally validated PLE-related predictors in a clinical sample comprising first-episode psychosis patients (n=19), their siblings (n=20), and healthy controls (n=19). Important predictors of PLEs included environmental and cognitive appraisals, along with sixteen structural network properties spanning frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal regions. The model showed moderate accuracy in predicting low versus high PLEs (accuracy = 75%, AUC = 0.750) and demonstrated high specificity (84.2%) in distinguishing siblings from patients. These findings suggest that environmental burden, cognitive schemas, and brain network alterations predict PLEs and partially generalize to clinical psychosis. These variables may reflect intermediate phenotypes across the psychosis spectrum, offering insights into both vulnerability and resilience. This work forms a central empirical chapter of the present dissertation.
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Ottoman governance and justice in the pre-modern era: “ehl-i örf” and “isnad”
(2025-12) Babacan, Ülkü Zeynep
This dissertation examines the mechanisms of justice in the provincial administration of the Ottoman Empire during the pre-modern period, particularly from the late 16th to the 18th century. It focuses on the relationship between state officials known as the ehli örf and the tax-paying population, the reʿâya, under changing fiscal conditions. At the center of the study are cases of false accusations (isnad and töhmet) directed by the ehli örf against the reʿâya as a means of compensating for their declining revenues. During this period, shaped by the dissolution of the timar system, inflation, and population growth, provincial administrators who held both fiscal and administrative powers began to use these powers as a means to generate supplementary income. Through an analysis of archival sources, the dissertation investigates how these officials resorted to practices such as fabricating charges or making accusations that were difficult to disprove, thereby legitimizing additional monetary demands. The main argument of the dissertation is that the practices of isnad and töhmet, frequently described in documents with the term zulm (oppression or injustice), represent not merely moral corruption but also a structural response to the economic pressures of the period. Due to inflation and the depreciation of currency, the real incomes of state officials such as the subaşı (local military official) and muhtesib (market inspector) declined. When the tax revenues they received in return for their services became inadequate, they increasingly turned to fine revenues (cerime) to make up for the decline. In this context, the fabrication of crimes or directing allegations difficult to disprove became a practical tool for legitimizing additional demands. In response to complaints from the reʿâya, the Ottoman state developed various mechanisms to restore justice and establish financial stability in provincial governance. Initially, the state prohibited these practices as unlawful innovations (bidʿat). When this proved insufficient, the state sought to curb arbitrariness in taxation by promoting the maktuʿ system, in which tax amounts were fixed through negotiation with local communities. Ultimately, the state institutionalized imdadiyye levies, providing provincial officials with a regular and predictable source of income while simultaneously preventing arbitrary exactions from the reʿâya. Within this framework, this dissertation interprets the 17th and 18th centuries as a period of flexible, negotiated adaptation, in which the Ottoman state sought to reconcile its ideal of maintaining the "circle of justice" (daire-i adalet) with the practical fiscal necessities of a changing economic order.
Open Access
Modern state and the elite–mass dilemma: Halide Edib Adıvar and Ali Fuad Başgil in the intellectual history of Turkish modernization
(2025-12) Kalkan, Onur
Turkish political history has been marked by recurring authoritarianisms that this thesis traces to an unresolved tension of modernization: the simultaneity of constructing the people as modern political subject and the centralized state as a form of modern power. Conceptualizing this tension as a dilemma between elite/state-led modernization and the rule of the masses—two poles understood not as fixed camps but as competing claims on modernization—the thesis examines the political thought and positionalities of Halide Edib Adıvar (1884–1964) and Ali Fuad Başgil (1893–1967). It asks whether their politically contentious and hybrid combinations of Western and local vocabularies constitute a genuine critique of, or alternative within, this dilemma. The analysis proceeds through two key issues central to both Turkish modernization and the figures’ interventions: secularism/religion and civil rights. The findings reveal that while both figures articulated significant opposition to the implementation of Turkish modernization and to its political actors, they largely remained within the power/knowledge configurations of the dilemma, falling short of articulating systematic alternatives. Furthermore, this thesis interprets Edib and Başgil as precursors of two modes of modern conservatism, namely Edib's cultural-traditionalist and Başgil's statist-moralist orientations, demonstrating that modern conservatism in Turkey emerged entangled with Western liberal-conservative vocabularies rather than as a purely local reaction. By doing so, the thesis contributes to Turkish historiography by demonstrating that transitions between political and ideological contexts reconfigure rather than resolve the dilemma, transforming the terms of contestation without eliminating the underlying tension.
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The influence of social elements on wayfinding performance and spatial learning through visual attention in a virtual environment
(2026-01) Orlu Özen, Gökçe
This dissertation investigates the how the social elements in the environment affect wayfinding and spatial learning outcomes by shaping visual attention during navigation. Grounded in the concept of social wayfinding, the study adopts a mixedmethods approach including a real-world pilot study and a controlled immersive virtual reality (iVR) experiment with integrated eye-tracking. Social presence is systematically manipulated in a large-scale airport terminal setting. Visual attention to social and non-social elements is measured using fixation proportions, and linked to wayfinding performance (task duration, travel distance, and error count) as well as spatial learning outcomes (landmark placement and pointing accuracy). The results demonstrate that social elements function as critical visual stimuli that attract attention during navigation. Increased visual attention to social elements is associated with reduced wayfinding efficiency and weaker spatial learning outcomes, indicating that social presence can introduce perceptual competition and increase attentional demand. Mediation analyses further reveal that visual attention plays a critical role in explaining the relationship between social presence and navigational outcomes. By empirically linking social presence, attention allocation, and spatial learning, this study advances current understanding of wayfinding as a dynamic process shaped by the interaction of environmental, social, and cognitive factors. It demonstrates the methodological value of combining immersive VR and eyetracking to study navigation in socially complex environments. The findings have implications for wayfinding design, emphasizing the need to manage attentional demands in socially dynamic public interiors to support effective navigation and spatial learning.
Open Access
Who is misogyny for?
(2026-01) Umul, Ayşe Seda
The recent resurgence of reactionary politics and right-wing authoritarianism, with its anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQIA+ policies, highlighted the urgency for understanding and resisting the oppression queer people and women face. Misogyny is one of the key mechanisms of patriarchy, in which this oppression is maintained. Kate Manne (2018) offered a unified, intersectional, and ameliorative feminist account in her seminal work Down Girl, which defines misogyny “as the ‘law enforcement’ branch of a patriarchal order, which has the overall function of policing and enforcing its governing ideology” (Manne, 2018, p. 63). The primary objective of this thesis is to analyse whether Manne’s framework for misogyny can live up to its goals of being unified and intersectional and whether it can accommodate the hostilities queer individuals face in navigating their social lives. By extension, if this account fails to accommodate queer experiences, what alternative framework can do the work? By drawing on insights from intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991; Collins, 2019; May, 2015), Nora Berenstain’s (2019, 2023) criticisms, and misandrogyny (Watson, 2020; Engelhardt, 2023), I argue that not only is Manne’s account fails in being intersectional and unified but also no existing framework can give a unified account of queer oppression. Ultimately, I suggest that it is necessary to develop a framework which can name and track the phenomenon that both actual and perceived queer people face daily.
Open Access
Rural anchors of Circassian diaspora: identity in the Circassian villages of Sinop
(2025-12) Balcı, Defne Irmak
This thesis investigates how rural diasporic identities are formed, maintained, and transformed among the Circassian communities in Sinop Province, focusing on their daily practices, family narratives, visual materials, and village-level dynamics. In addition, it also aims to demonstrate the transition from a traditional diasporic identity to a modern nationalistic one in rural spaces, mainly through visual manifestations. Built on the existing literature in diaspora studies, this thesis proposes a broad working definition of diaspora as a concept that encompasses three main analytical dimensions: varying levels of organization, orientation towards the homeland, and practices of belonging and difference. Thus, the thesis employs a qualitative research method, in which ten villages in Sinop Province were visited, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with multiple individuals of Circassian descent. The data derived from the interviews, combined with the participant observations in the field, are analyzed through thematic analysis based on the working definition of diaspora. Consequently, the villages cannot be generalized as a whole, as less organized villages in terms of formal institutions show more practice-based, traditional roots for the rural diasporic identity, whereas villages with mid- to high levels of formal organizational ties show a transition towards a modern diasporic identity. The overall findings suggest that the Circassian communities in Sinop Province are not passive transmitters of traditions and habits; rather, they are an active group in which a traditional, practice-based Circassian identity is gradually and partially emerging as a modern, ideological, and nationalist diasporic one.
Open Access
Sıkılmanın poetikası: modern Türk şiirinde kadın öznenin can sıkıntısının mekânsal öğeler aracılığıyla incelenmesi (1956–2010)
(2025-12) Akça, Pembe Berfin
Bu tez, modern Türk şiirindeki kadın öznenin konumunu irdelemek adına, "can sıkıntısı" kavramına odaklanan feminist-fenomenolojik bir okuma önermektedir. Çalışma, can sıkıntısını salt bir kayıtsızlık veya oyalanma pratiği olarak ele alan indirgemeci yaklaşımları aşarak; bu olguyu mekânsal olarak köklenen, psikolojik olarak inşa edilen ve dilsel düzlemde icra edilen derinlikli bir varoluşsal durum olarak yeniden kavramsallaştırır. Araştırmanın kuramsal çatısı; Gaston Bachelard’ın topoanalizi, Julia Kristeva’nın abject (iğrenç) ve kara güneş kavramları ile Hélène Cixous’nun écriture féminine (dişil yazı) teorisinin disiplinler arası senteziyle oluşturulmuştur. Kurulan bu model, Gülten Akın ve Birhan Keskin şiirlerinin karşılaştırmalı analizi üzerinden somutlaştırılır. İnceleme, toplumsal cinsiyetle örülü can sıkıntısının tezahür ettiği geniş spektrumu gözler önüne serer. Gülten Akın’ın erken dönem eserlerinde can sıkıntısı, ev içi mekânın sığınak vasfını yitirerek kara güneşin ağırlığı altında psişik bir mezara dönüştüğü melankolik bir içe kapanış olarak belirir. Buna mukabil Birhan Keskin şiirinde can sıkıntısı; benliğe ve toplumun sınırlarına yönelen abject bir başkaldırıya, bozucu mekânsal imgeler ve parçalanmış bir dil aracılığıyla dışa vurulan bedensel bir isyana evrilir. Sonuç olarak tez, kadın can sıkıntısının şiirsel ifadesinin, toplumsal ve varoluşsal bağlamda radikal bir eleştiri biçimi olduğunu savunur. Gülten Akın’ın içe dönük melankolisi ile Birhan Keskin’in dışa dönük ve isyankâr abjectliği arasındaki gerilimi inceleyen çalışma, kadın öznenin nüanslı deneyimlerini görünür kılar. Böylelikle; mekân, psişe ve dil arasındaki ilişkinin, cinsiyetlendirilmiş deneyimin oluşumundaki kurucu rolünü çözümlemek için bütünleşik bir kuramsal yaklaşımın elzem olduğunu ortaya koyar.