Güner Sümer's Commoners

The artist personality of Güner Sümer was shaped by the socialism which constituted the main problem in all his writing activities. Sümer, who was one of the persons crushed by the social irregularities during the period he lived, became the spokesman of this group. Güner Sümer reflected a social dilemma through the theme of commoners which were situated in the centre of his dramatic authorship. Indeed, according to Sümer, the main task of a dramatic writer was to raise the awareness of the people who wanted to be insensitive towards the disorder of the society. Witnessing the rise of commoners is the thing which can make a writer successful. Because of this, an author cannot look down to the society from a high tower. The group of intellectuals should witness the awaking of all the oppressed people regardless of their identity. The negligence of the person fighting with social problematic means that the dramatic author deceives himself. The purpose of writing this thesis is to address the middle-class types who create the core of Güner Sümer's dramatic texts by struggling with their desperation and worsening living conditions in the context of the political, social and economic problems of the period. Each of the heroes in the text symbolizes a different social problem. Güner Sümer reflected these problems through types in typical situations. It is intended to create dynamism by drawing the types in opposite and parallel shapes. Another feature of the dramatic text is that they are happening within a family environment. The human hands are faltering the effects of the ruined order on the family. The individuals outside the family symbolize the ruthless outer world with their malevolent features. The family-centred structure of the dramatic text can be explained by the stage technique and structure suitability of the smallest structure unit. The theatre is expected to reflect the faltering person in dramatic texts. The audience enter the process of internalizing the social dilemma through the shadow of the faltering person. The audience who leaves the theatre awakened will form the backbone of social change and transformation.