"Memory" and "Constructed reality" (1980-2000) in today's Turkish playwriting

This dissertation brings forward that the object that dramaturgy attempts to represent is not the reality of life, but in fact a construct conceived by dominant powers and ideologies prevailing the society. While dealing with the construction of reality, this study also includes the individual into the discussion as a phenomenon socially constructed by the norms set by the disciplinary power. Furthermore, it analyses whether changes in the concept of reality due to postmodernism has had any impact on the construction process of reality. In order to demonstrate how prevailing powers have control over reality, the September 12th, 1980 coup d'état, its political, economic and cultural realities are put under a microscope as a political power constructing the individual. Some theatrical plays, written between 1980-2000 and revolving around objects representing the individual and social reality designated by the 1980 coup, are examined regarding how they reveal the methods of constructing reality, and produce an opposite discourse to the abovementioned designated reality. The relationship that these plays, associating the 1980 coup with the construction of reality and individual, establish between dominant powers and the existing reality is analysed through various notions, such as "power", "discourse", "identity", "ideology", "hegemony", "collective memory", and "consumption".Key Words: Social Reality, Individual, Construction, September 12, Disciplinary Power