In the novels of Halide Nusret Zorlutuna gender and identity

Gender describes the roles assigned to women and men by society and culture, and explains that femininity and masculinity are sociological phenomena as well as biological sex. It is also said as a concept used to separate men and women from each other within the social structure and within the social norms. In this respect, the concept expresses a form of identity and enables the examination of how male and female identities are formed in many areas of social sciences, from anthropology to history, from psychology to sociology. It can be said that the field where gender roles are perhaps most visible is literature.This thesis is about the analysis of Halide Nusret Zorlutuna's novels within the framework of the concept of gender. In this context, gender discourses, femininity and masculinity roles, and identity forms established in the novels in question are examined. The main reason for choosing Zorlutuna in the study is that she lived during the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic and that she represents an example of the transformation in society's gender perceptions as a woman who can enter the public sphere. Another reason for choosing her novels is that she carries both her conservative identity and her pioneering female role in the public sphere into her works and writes her works in an effort to describe society in a realistic style. In this context, the thesis is divided into four sections. In the first section, a theoretical background is created within the framework of the relationship between gender and literature. In the second section, Zorlutuna's life is included to ensure the consistency of the studies in the thesis and the novels discussed in the thesis are summarized. In the third section, the focus is on the female fiction in the novels in question, and the female characters are examined within the framework of their roles as mothers, wives, and in social life. In the fourth section, men and masculinity fiction are examined.Thus, gender roles in Zorlutuna's works have been illuminated and it has been concluded that in almost all of her novels, she discusses the roles that society imposes on women and men within the framework of the plot. In all of Zorlutuna's novels, there is a reflection of a conservative intellectual identity. This situation resulted in the gender roles that were deemed acceptable by society being more obvious in her novels, and the ideas that might have been contrary to the intellectual world of her time being more implicit. Key Words: Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, gender, femininity, masculinity, identity