The migration from the village to the city and poverty at the novels of Orhan Kemals Gurbet Kuşları and Latife Tekins Sevgili Arsız Ölüm

ABSTRACTUrbanization, which is the cultural aspect of migration from the village to the big city, is theprocess whereby rural and urban cultures meet to form a new sub-culture. As a widespreadand established urban culture does not exist in our country, the acculturation of migrantsfrom rural areas has not been marked by a shift from rural to modern urban culture. Instead,migrants have developed their unique urban culture based on ostentatious consumption andan arabesque life style. This phenomenon may be explained by the eventual despair causedby urban life in early migrants who had aspired to climb the social ladder, as well as by anoverall shift from a culture of hope to hopelessness.The present study aims to investigate the relationship between urbanization, poverty andliterature through a thematic analysis of two novels; namely, Orhan Kemal?s Gurbet Kuşlarıand Latife Tekin?s Sevgili Arsız Ölüm.The analysis has shown that:• In Gurbet Kuşları, which takes as its main themes urban life without roots andincomplete urbanization, the process of migration to the big city is portrayed as aprogressive concept that advances migrants and the country,• On the other hand, by emphasizing the poverty, disintegration and cultural breakdowncaused by migration, Sevgili Arsız Ölüm presents migration as a regressive ratherthan progressive concept in the life status of families,• Finally, the shift from a culture of hope to one of hopelessness is reflected inliterature, as shown by the shift from the culture of hope in the late 1950s setting ofGurbet Kuşları to the culture of hopelessness in the late 1960s setting of Sevgili ArsızÖlüm.