The novelıstıc art of Güray Süngü

Literature is not an autonomous field detached from social life or the human experience of existence. Every era's aesthetic and intellectual climate is reflected, directly or indirectly, in literary works. In this context, modernism represents a crucial turning point that profoundly transformed the individual's relationship with the self, society, and nature. The themes brought forth by modernism are particularly prominent in the novel genre. Focusing on the inner conflicts, struggles for belonging, and existential inquiries of the modern individual, this literary trajectory is also distinctly visible in the novels of Güray Süngü. While portraying the tensions and disconnections of the modern subject, Süngü employs postmodern narrative techniques. His novels, characterized by interwoven plots, fractured time and space, and a multiplicity of perspectives, reveal the psychological depths of modern individuals through complex narrative structures and intertextual layers. Throughout his career, Güray Süngü has produced significant works in both short story and novel genres. He entered the literary scene with his first short story, published in 1998, and his identity as a novelist became evident with Dördüncü Tekil Şahıs published in 2006. This study examines Süngü's novels Dördüncü Tekil Şahıs, Pencere'den, Düş Kesiği, Kış Bahçesi, Mehmet'i Sakatlayan Serçe Parmağı, İbrahim'in Kaybettiğini Bulmasıdır, Az Kalan Gölge, and Büyük Irmaklardan Bile. The first part of the study analyzes these novels in terms of structural components such as the relationship between title and content, plot, narrator and point of view, time, space, and character organization. The second part focuses on major themes including alienation, death, loneliness, quest, escape, and love—interpreting them, in light of textual evidence, as reflections of the modern individual's inner world. This research aims to reveal how modernism's impact on the individual is represented in Güray Süngü's novels, both at the structural and thematic levels.