TOPLUMSAL ROLLERİN OTOBİYOGRAFİK İMGELERLE ANLATIMI

Abstract

The processes of identity construction and the gender roles produced within these processes are reshaping the course of art history through the works of women artists. In the 19th and 20th centuries, influenced by debates on identity developed in continental philosophy, women artists have transformed their own experiences, memories and traumas into works of art through biographical imagery. Particularly in Turkey, the inclusion by women artists—who have been active since the 1980s— of elements relating to local culture, social memory and everyday life in their works highlights the decisive role of culture in identity construction processes. In the light of theoretical insights obtained through qualitative research methods and a literature review, the works produced within the scope of this thesis have been reinterpreted— drawing on autobiographical narratives and utilizing discourses and imagery specific to local culture—through various application methods and techniques such as acrylic paint on fabric, screen printing, video collage and cross-stitch. In this thesis, entitled ‘The Narration of Social Roles through Autobiographical Images’, the ways in which gender representations are constructed, reproduced and made visible within the framework of identity debates have been examined.