Visions of nightmare: an analysis of dystopian fiction in contemporary English and Turkish novels

Abstract

This study focuses on contemporary dystopian novels written in English and Turkish literature. As it is a popular tradition among today’s readership, the first chapter discusses dystopia as a genre. The second and third chapters provide close readings on Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007), Cem Akaş’s Y (2018), Doris Lessing’s Mara and Dann: An Adventure (1999), and Oya Baydar’s Köpekli Çocuklar Gecesi (2019). While it aims to inform the reader about the development of the dystopian genre, this thesis seeks answers to the questions of how we can read these authors from different countries in relation to each other and how they complement each other as writers that use the same genre. While seeking an answer to these questions, the concept of “kinship” proposed by Wai-Chee Dimock is thought to be useful. This thesis proposes that there is kinship through genre between Winterson and Akaş, while Lessing and Baydar form this kinship from a more political and activist position due to the parallels in their personal experiences. In regard to this concept, while discussing Winterson and Akaş through gender and sexuality, this thesis reads Lessing and Baydar together through their eco-dystopia. Through their similarities and distinctions, all four authors contribute to the tradition of the dystopia separately; however, it is also essential to establish a connection and relationship between their works as the authors wrote their works under the traditions of their Anglophone and Turkish literatures.