Alienation and othering as an element of crime: Anti-heroes of Dostoyevsky, Kafka and Camus

The story of a human being, created from birth as two distinct genders, physically and spiritually different from one another, begins, as it were, with the other. These differences even lead the individual into the impasse known as alienation as the story progresses. While the child, initially a part of the mother, gradually separates from her and becomes alienated from her, similar alienation is witnessed in the family, the smallest unit of society, as well as in other social communities and groups. As is known and observed, othering and alienation occur wherever humans exist. The alienation of humans, as social beings, from the society or communities they live in, or their alienation by that society, has thematically informed many branches of art. Literature, rooted in life and diversified by human experience, has also addressed the phenomenon of alienation and othering throughout its history. From this perspective, this study will attempt to determine whether alienation and othering are considered elements of crime in the works of Russian author Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Crime and Punishment (1866), French philosopher and writer Allbert Camus (1913-1960) The Stranger (1942), and Czech-German author Franz Kafka (1883-1924) The Trial (1925), all of which have earned significant places not only in their own national literature but also in world literature. We will also attempt to establish the basis for analyzing the protagonists in these works as antiheroes who, unlike conventional heroes, are disapproved of by society, inadequate, stagnant, or selfish. vi The first section of our study will analyze the etymologies of the concepts, present their reception in the disciplines of sociology, psychology, and philosophy, and examine their place in the literary field. In the second section, after explaining the comparative method, which forms the theoretical framework of our study, information is provided on the methods to be employed in the theoretical foundation of our study: Hermeneutics and Reception Aesthetics. Before moving on to the comparative application, information is provided on anti-heroes, a common theme in the selected works. Afterwards, the anti-heroes in the works are analyzed separately, and an attempt is made to observe how the elements of alienation and othering that transform these heroes, who differ from traditional heroes, into anti-heroes become elements of crime. In light of all the information obtained, the works are examined comparatively and evaluated with a focus on relevant theories and concepts. The fact that the heroes in the works under study are alienated from both themselves, the society they live in, and the circumstances of their times, and that the element of alienation that becomes evident around the element of crime transforms them into antiheroes, unites the authors in question on a common ground. In this study, the aforementioned commonalities are examined through cultural, sociological, psychological, economic, and historical elements, and the data obtained are supported by literary scientific methods of Hermeneutics and Reception Aesthetics. The aim is to demonstrate, through comparative literature, the extent to which the alienation and othering that distancing individuals within society are made visible in the literatures of different cultures through literature, and how these national literatures converge.