Struggle between the "ideal" and the "illegitimate": Representations of prostitution and family in Selahaddin Enis novels

This thesis focuses on Selahaddin Enis' serialized novels, Zâniyeler, Cehennem Yolcuları, and Orta Malı, which were published between 1922 and 1925 and examines the treatment of the theme of prostitution, considering its centrality in the plot, and the concept of family positioned in opposition to it. The analysis centers on the narrator's stance and the other characters' voices in the conflict between the concept of family, which is explored through issues such as child-rearing, motherhood, and genealogy, and the concept of prostitution, which covers issues such as alcohol, drugs, and abortion in the novels. In that regard, this thesis argues that Zâniyeler, the best-known work of Selahaddin Enis, features a more one-sided and judgmental narrator. However, in Cehennem Yolcuları and Orta Malı, it has been argued that there exists a more nuanced narrator who highlights different voices, judgments, and thoughts, and approaches the aforementioned issues from a broader perspective.