Childhood constructed by its physical, moral and disciplinary characteristics in children's magazines of early Republican Period

One of the most important needs of the nation-state structure established by the proclamation of the Republic was the construction of the new person, envisioned by the nation-state paradigm and the Republican regime. In this respect, one of the most important aims of the cadres who founded the Republic was to construct the childhood that the Republican regime identified itself with. Focusing on children's magazines from periodic publications for children that could be defined as the popular publications of the period, this thesis investigates the childhood intended to be constructed by the cadres who founded the Republic, in the framework of the Republican regime and nation-state paradigm; under which conditions, with which causes, in the context of which discourses and concepts, were the physical, moral and disciplinary construction of childhood have been put forward. The long period discussed within the framework of this thesis, also forms a significant breaking phase of the modernization of Turkey. For this reason, the long process that has been discussed, has been evaluated within a broad context of modernity. In children's publications of early Republican period, the children population which was subjected to the construction of modern childhood defined as the desirable citizen of the future by the Republican administration and called as "The cause of the future" by the Republican regime at some point, was attempted to be made healthy and strong in order to increase the population of the country and in this sense, various interventions to the population were conducted, overall, this field was attempted to be regulated and controlled. The proclamation of the Republic was a declaration of the nation-state project in the post-imperial period. With the republic, along the state and society model based on nation-state and secularism, the aim was to produce new moral virtues, habits and behavior patterns including "good-bad", "right-wrong", "desirable and not undesirable", based on a new understanding of morality and discipline to legitimize this political and societal project. In this sense, the "new human" desired to be constructed was at the center of this new understanding of society desired to be established. Therefore, Republic's "new human" was aimed to be constructed in the direction of enlightening and progressive approach of the Republic, in a way that could respond to the needs and requirements of the time being and of the society and with a secular, positivist approach.