Nahit Sırrı Örik'in romanlarında narsisist entrikalar

Abstract

This study focuses on the novels of Nahit Sırrı Örik (1894-1960), one of the most significant authors of the 20th. century Turkish literature. The novels that have been analyzed are Kıskanmak (Jealousy, 1937), Yıldız Olmak Kolay mı? (Is it Easy to Become A Star?, 1944), Tersine Giden Yol (The Road Reversed, 1948), “Gece Olmadan” (Before The Nightfall, 1951) and Sultan Hamid Düşerken (The Demise of Sultan Hamid, 1957). The dissertation mainly investigates interpersonal, “love” and parent-child relationships depicted in the novels from a psychoanalytical perspective. It is observed that Nahit Sırrı had portrayed a “narcissistic” world in terms of the value system and the quality of the emotions involved in the interpersonal universe of his novels. It is also found out that narcissism had also shaped the literary components of the novels including the constitution of plot, characterization, setting, language, and style. The plots of the novels are based on “plotting”, which is also an integral part of narcissistic pathology, and almost all characters have certain narcisssistic qualities. The settings, too, can be related to narcissism in terms of their feeding characters’ need for admiration and being temporary in nature. Besides, the language and style indicate the existence of narcissistic narrators who give great importance to describing characters’ physical appearances, look down on most of them, abhor the indications of old age, and in contrast glorify youth and beauty. The study ultimately focuses on the biographical implications of Örik’s fictional world by taking a close look at the author’s childhood experiences, his relationship with his parents, his fantasies as reflected in his childhood plays, and so on. It is concluded that the author’s childhood experiences had been likely to give way to the development of a narcissistic personality and Örik, who is observed not to be reconciled with old age, tended to categorize people as beautiful or ugly, and look down on them, is very much like the narrators in his novels.