The theatres of Direktör Âli Bey and humor in plays

Âli Bey (1846-1899) is one of the significant authors of the Tanzimat Reform Era. He wrote in various literary genres such as drama, diary, story, dictionary, travel writing and translated many into Turkish. Âli Bey is especially famous for his comedies. The author has an important place in modernization of Turkish humor. In the prolog of the work titled "The Theatres of Direktör Âli Bey and Humor in Plays", laughing as a reaction which is the main goal of humorous literary works is widely discussed and the concepts of humor and comedy are examined during this discussion. In its first part, the life and literary personality of the author are included. Contributions of Âli Bey to the Turkish drama cannot be reduced to writing plays. He exchanged ideas with troupe directors of the era. He taught players to correct their pronunciation. He supported the truopes take to the stage. He was assigned in the committee which was found to improve Turkish theatre. In this thesis, the theatre during the Tanzimat Reform Era was evaluated around the works of Âli Bey. In its second part, Âli Bey's plays were examined structurally and thematically. The scope of thesis is limited to the author's enumerated plays including Misafiri İstiskal, Kokona Yatıyor, Ayyar Hamza, Geveze Berber, Çıngırak and Letafet. In its third part, the humorous elements in these plays are identified. Humorous elements in terms of their functions and uses in those plays are evaluated in accordance with the theories on humor. Keywords: Direktör Âli Bey, Drama, Comedy, Humor, Tanzimat Reform Era