Peasantry in written cultural products from the early years of the Turkish Republic to present days: The image of peasantry in Turkish novels

The aim of this study is to explain the meaning of peasantry, understand how peasantry has changed due to socio-economic and political developments, and how it has been represented through images in Turkish novels. Theoretical background information regarding the meaning of village and peasantry was given with a perspective that involves the investigation of the transformation of peasantry by active economic and political factors in time. Next, the traces of transformation alongside capitalism were inspected throughout the history of the Turkish Republic. The study was performed within the framework of novels that reflect social reality. Various novels written from 1800s to 1980s were evaluated and those, which were appropriate for the scope of this study, were selected.How literature describes the concept of peasantry from Tanzimat (Ottoman Reform) to present days was examined with regards to the period in which the story takes place, the subject of the story, the attitude of the writer, and the relationship with other narratives of the given time. How the existence of the 'peasantry' converges or diverges between the novels and reality was also investigated. The novels used in this study were analyzed in three categories: "Economic Difficulties in the Village", "Political Life and the Peasant", and "Peasantry with Respect to Social Life". The analyses performed in this study revealed that the 'peasantry' as represented in novels has always been influenced by economic and political practices in Turkey. The peasantry that was subject to certain break points within this period has transformed since the beginning of the Republic; but yet has managed to adapt to new conditions and survived. The footprints of these facts were found within the novels evaluated in this study. Keywords 1) Peasantry 2) Peasantry and Capitalism 3) Modernization and Peasantry 4) The Relationship of Novel and Peasantry in Ottoman-Turkish Society 5) Peasantry in Novels