Emine Işınsu'nun Romanlarındaki Karakterlerin Freudyen Yaklaşımla Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the characters in the novels of Emine Işınsu, one of the prominent figures in Turkish literature, within the framework of Freud's psychoanalytic theories. Accordingly, the life, literary persona, and works of Emine Işınsu are first introduced to evaluate her approach to the novel genre and her place in Turkish literature. Subsequently, the study explores the foundational concepts of psychoanalytic criticism, including Freud's topographical theory (conscious, subconscious, and unconscious), structural personality theory (id, ego, superego), psychosexual development theory (oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital stages), the Oedipus complex, instincts, dreams, defense mechanisms, neurosis, and psychosis. In this study, to facilitate the Freudian analysis of psychological elements observed in Emine Işınsu's novels, the significance of characterization in the novel genre and the contributions of psychoanalysis in this context are emphasized. The psychological structures of characters depicted in the novels are primarily evaluated within three main categories of disorders: affective, neurotic, and psychotic, following their childhood periods and relationships with parents. This classification enables a more concrete analysis of the fluctuations in characters' emotional worlds, their unconscious conflicts, and deviations in their perception of reality. The findings reveal that Emine Işınsu's novels vividly portray, sometimes explicitly and sometimes symbolically, the repressed desires, childhood traumas, familial relationships, subconscious worlds, and tensions arising from social norms experienced by the characters. Particularly, the influences of psychosexual stages and the Oedipus complex are distinctly observed in psychopathological disorders such as melancholy, addiction, obsession, narcissism, masochism, paranoia, and schizophrenia exhibited by the characters. These findings substantiate that Emine Işınsu is not merely reflecting historical or social events but also profoundly delving into the individual's inner world. Freud's theories have been preferred in this thesis due to their methodological integrity and comprehensive explanatory power, thus adopting the Freudian method rather than theories of other psychoanalysts such as Jung, Fromm, Lacan, and Adler. The outcomes of this research underline the significance of psychoanalytic criticism in Turkish literature and highlight the abundant psychoanalytic material offered by Emine Işınsu's works. Furthermore, the study provides a perspective for future comparative analyses or investigations incorporating other theoretical frameworks.