A survey on the essays of Cemil Meriç

In this thesis, which is about the essays of Cemil Meriç, firstly the genre ?essay? is defined. Then this genre?s historical development and its course in Turkish literature are explained. The essay books of Cemil Meriç, especially ?Bu Ülke? (This Country) and ?Mağaradakiler? (The Ones in the Cave), are evaluated according to their contents and key terms. It is determined that in his essays some specific notions and terms are used frequently. It is obvious that Meriç takes some terms like literature, art, culture, civilization and history as problems to be solved. Meriç structures contents of his essays by these key terms.In this study the principles of examining literary works like purpose, nature and function are applied to the essays and artistic view of Cemil Meriç. Examining the nature of his essays it can be observed that there are many different kinds of words and terms. Essayist Meriç applies his very own style to his essays effectively. He uses his gainings from the Eastern and Western civilizations to reach a synthesis. He struggles to make Turkish intelectuals and his own readers understand the essence of this synthesis. In this thesis, lastly the functional aspect of essays used as materials for the education and teaching of literature is evaluated and some sample practices about this topic are shown.Keywords:1. Cemil Meriç2. Bu Ülke (This Country), Mağaradakiler (The Ones in the Cave)3. The genre ?Essay?4. Content and Key Terms5. Education