Examining the language of empathy in the novel The Kassandra Stamp

The concept of ''empathy language'' is among the terms that have been used in the fields of psychology and linguistics. This study is important in terms of the field as it focuses on empathy with an interdisciplinary approach. The reason for examining the work in terms of the language of empathy is that there has not been an independent ''empathy language review'' on the works of Cengiz Aytmatov before and the desire to consider the work from a new perspective by taking advantage of the possibilities of psychology. In line with this research, awareness will be raised about the concept of empathy and empathic expressions. At the same time, the review will help readers to better understand the novel ''Kassandra Damgası'' by Cengiz Aytmatov, one of the important novelists. The study consist of three parts. In the first part, after giving information about the life, art and works of Cengiz Aytmatov, the function of the author in the fictional world of novel ''Kassandra Stamp'' is emphasized. In the second part of the research, general information about the concept of empathy, the language of empathy and the use of empathy language in literary works is given. The third part of the study is the analysis phase. The sentences selected from Cengiz Aytmatov's novel''Kassandra Stamp'' were examined in terms of empathy language in the language analysis section of the study. Sentences that have data characteristics in terms of empathy language were examined according to the stages in Tarhan's (2020) empathy level and empathy step classification. The concept of empathy, which is stated to occur in six stages in Tarhan's empathy step classification: neutrality, unconditional acceptance, displacement, active listener, explaining behaviors, producing solutions and providing guidance has been examined for the first time in terms of providing a positive environment as a new step categorized by Akın and Turhan (2022) within the framework of the concept of ''empathy or mercy from Allah to man''. The language used during bilateral communication in the fictional text was evaluated for the first time in the context of the adult self level, parents self levet, child self level classified by Dökmen (2018), as well as the divine self level categorized by Akın and Turhan (2022) in the context of the grace approach as a new self language. It is thought that the embryo self level, which was determined as a new self level during the examination, can be added in addition to the self levels categorized by Dökmen and Akın with Turhan. At the evaluation and conclusion stage, as a result of the examination, it was tried to contribute to the subsequent studies by making evaluations about Aytmatov's writing characteristics and how he processed the language of empathy in his novel ''Kassandra Stamp'' and what the results mean.