Understanding of morality and building of values in the Republican Period Turkish stories (1935-1950)

The concept of morality and value is a deep-rooted issue that begins with the history of humanity. As such, this issue has been receiving significant attention from many disciplines and it is still being extensively investigated today. In order to provide individual and social peace, the concepts of morality and value question the ways of the individual to be a good person Thus, it is aimed to make the world more livable. There are many ways to spread morals and values. One of the strongest way is undoubtedly literature. Literature is one of the most important art that can touch, affect, transform and change people's emotions with its mesmerizing language. With this in mind, this study examines the understanding of morality and building of values in 753 stories printed in 51 story books published by 23 authors during the period of 1935-1950, when a new social and sociological development was being implemented. It is observed that various values were emphasized in 608 of these stories. The stories were analyzed by targeting a total of 52 values under seven predetermined core values. In the stories of this period, the most commonly emphasized values included the values related to the family institution, protecting the cultural identity / opposing false westernization, lawful earnings, loyalty and trustworthiness, being sensitive, being reliable, justice, peace, being responsible, not taking advantage of religious feelings. In most of the stories; It can be observed that it was aimed at transferring the values to the society by educating through lessons, ensuring awareness of the values, raising consciousness, and adopting new social status / law. In the stories, state administration and administrative authorities are also warned by emphasizing the values such as exclusion from the public, trust, and protection of the rights of the society. In the stories, it is observed that values are treated without ignoring the effectiveness of literary language. In the stories, we encounter the attitude of traditional lecturer and humanist morality as the moral understanding based on the principle of describing the moral problem. It can be said that traditional moral understanding with a decreasing tendency has been appearing in less stories. In the stories of the period, it is aimed that the people internalize the value by thinking and making inferences about the moral problem using a humanist attitude. We see that the humorous language was frequently used in the stories of the period. This shows that stories form an effective means to reach out to the children and the younger generation. It will be fruitful to include these stories more frequently in today's literature for children by taking into account the principles of relativity to children. Otherwise, the opportunity to transfer the values that remain so valid that they cannot be imprisoned only by the preferences of adults and literary research, will be missed. The thesis contributes to Turkish Literature and Turkish Education by determining the stories of the period 1935-1950, recognizing the values, explaining the values, and determining the moral tendencies of the stories.